Can a second chance change it all?
by joanderson
Summary: What if Karl Riber has survived the destruction of Sara Base on Marth, and he was rescue by the SDF1. How this will afect Lisa...and ofcourse her realtionship with Rick?
1. Chapter 1

Can a second chance change it all?  
Chapter 1  
Mars Survivors

Author: Jo anderson  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech or Robotech, I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man)  
To: Sphersian, as always thanks to Carla and especially to K71 that will be my beta now, and to every one who takes the time to read this  
Author's note: Well I have always like the character of Karl Riber and had always wonder how his relationship with Lisa was, so I decided to bring him back to life and see what would happen.

SDF-1  
Lisa had been stuck to the window all morning looking at the red planet, as the memories passed over and over again in her head and the only thing that filled it was Karl Riber.

She remembered all the happy moments that she had lived with this man that with no doubt was the love of her life and when he died he also took her life with him.

She was daydreaming about how her life with Karl would be; she thought of her marriage, she could even imagine herself walking in the park caring a baby's carriage. She imagined a happy life, just as it has been her life by his side, until a shake from Claudia took her out of her dreams

"Lisa are you ok?" asked Claudia looking at her with concern.

"Ah? What?" asked Lisa still lost in thought.

"I asked you if you are ok? I'm asking you for like 10 minutes if you also are receiving a strange signal on your screen."

"Yes I'm fine, sorry I didn't listen to you," said Lisa shaking her head, as if doing that all her thoughts would go away so she could concentrate again on her work.

"I'll check my screen immediately," said Lisa as she checked her screen.

"I see an incoming signal from some sector on the planet, but I'm not sure if the signal comes from Earth and repeats there or if it comes from the planet," said Vanessa.

"I also saw the signal on my screen," said Lisa and walked to Vanessa's station, "amplify the signal Vanessa."

"Immediately Lisa," answered Vanessa and the signal appeared amplified on the screen.

"I can't assure the origin of the signal, but the codes are antique codes used by the RDF," said Lisa doubtfully, watching the screen carefully as her heart started to beat faster. Maybe somebody has survived on Mars, she thought. But she put that thought away quickly and concentrated again on her work. "Sammie, localize the Captain and tell him that we need him on the bridge ASAP.

Vanessa, keep watching that signal and at the minimum change you let me know immediately.

Claudia, try to get the ship as close to the signal as you can without taking her off course," said Lisa finally cool and professional as always. Then she walked to her post of command and ordered the take off of one Cat's-eye, a ship to try to intercept the signal and broadcast to the SDF.

The Captain arrived a few moments later after the Cat's-eye had intercepted the signal and it was broadcasting the data to the ship.

"What's going on?" asked the captain as he arrived into the bridge.

"We intercepted an abnormal signal Sir, and it seems to come from Mars," said Vanessa.

"I took the freedom to send a Cat's-eye to intercept the signal Sir" said Lisa.

"Well done," said the captain and sat in his chair, "What have we intercepted?"

"I'll put the data on the speaker," said Kim.

"It's an old RDF code, but I'm not able to understand it's meaning," said Lisa.

The captain stayed in silence for a few moments and then took his hat off and scratched his head, "I understand perfectly well the code, but its meaning is senseless."

"What does it say, Sir?" asked Claudia.

"It's a song, a child's song," said the captain and put his hat on again, "Vanessa did you localize the origin of the signal?" asked Gloval.

"Just a few more seconds Sir," said Vanessa and after processing the new data she added "it comes from Sara Base on Mars."

"What?" asked Lisa leaving her post and walking to Vanessa's station to see for her own eyes the origin of the signal "Are you sure?"

"It's impossible, the base is uninhabited," said Gloval.

"Lisa," said Claudia softly, trying not to let her friend get too much high expectations.  
"But there could be survivors, right Captain?" asked Lisa anxiously.

"It's not likely, but the base was pretty big, I guess anything is possible," said Gloval.

"I have the confirmation of the coordinates Sir, it definitely is Sara Base," said Vanessa.

"Sir maybe we should investigate, after all the enemy has diverted us pretty much from our course," said Claudia as she looked from the corner of her eyes to Lisa, who had returned to her station.

Claudia saw immediately the brightness in Lisa's eyes, waiting for the captain's answer, she could see how her friend's eyes were full of hope.

"What is our status?" asked Gloval.

"Astro-navigation and engineering report minimum damage Sir" said Vanessa.

"Ok, so let's change our course, we are going to Mars," said Gloval.

As soon as he finished the words, Claudia was giving the necessary instructions from her station. Lisa was doing the same, but she couldn't avoid the feeling of how her heart was beating faster. Finally she will be on Martian soil.

The Ship had landed on Martian soil and several Cat's-eyes had flown over the base searching for any kind of life, but they had found nothing. Finally the captain had decided to move the ship closer to the base and made a security perimeter around the SDF-1; maybe there was something in the base that could be used to supply the ship.

Lisa was standing in her station with her eyes fixed on the base; it was just like she had imagined it will be, just how Karl had described to her. Lisa could not resist anymore. She had been calm and fit for her duties as best as she could, but now she couldn't pull herself together anymore. She needed to get out and search the base herself, see for her own eyes if the were survivors or not.

She needed to know if Karl was alive. And now the right time to make her request had come, the bridge was in silence and the Captain was standing next to her watching the base.

"Requesting permission to abandon the ship Sir and investigate the interior of the base," said Lisa with a firm and decided voice.

"But Lisa.." the Captain was saying, but Lisa interrupted him.

"I would like to research the source of all the data that we are receiving Sir," said Lisa. She waited for the Captain to answer, but spoke again when she realized that she was about to be denied her request.

"Please Sir! It's important to me," she said almost begging.

"I could cover her post Sir," added Claudia, trying to help her friend.

Gloval doubted for a while. It was highly improbable that there were survivors, but he knew something about Lisa's history, he knew that her fiancé had been assigned to that base. He only needed to look again into Lisa's eyes to see all the illusion that they had and to say yes, "Ok, but I want you take two security officers with you," said Gloval and before he finished talking Lisa was already at the door of the bridge.

"Thank you Sir," said Lisa and disappeared running.

Lisa was waiting on the platform for her transport to arrive; it was a Jeep design specially to work on the Earth, Moon and Mars. As she waited she checked her equipment; she had her spacesuit, her radio, her emergency location system, her laser rifle and her portable hand computer that allowed her to localized in the base. When her transport arrived, she immediately abandoned the ship, ignoring Gloval's suggestion of taking with her some security personnel. Driving the Jeep remains her, her training on the moon, but that wasn't what was taking her mind. The only thing that she could think of was Karl, in that she was accomplishing her promise. Finally she had arrived to Mars and she hoped that he had accomplished his promise too, of waiting for her. Lisa wished with all her heart that he was alive.

Rick was talking with Roy when all of a sudden he heard a voice reproaching them.

"This is not a channel for that kind of conversation," said the voice. Rick couldn't help make a grimace, " Will Commander Hayes ever get tired of bogging me?" he thought, but then he realized that the voice wasn't the voice of Commander Hayes.

"Hey sweetie, nice to see you," said Roy making a grin to Claudia.

"Watch your mouth flyboy," said Claudia seriously, but then she winked at Roy.

"Hey, so what happen with the old-sourpuss?" said Rick and later he regretted his words when he remembered that Roy's girlfriend was a friend of Commander Hayes.

"More respect Corporal, and for your information Commander Hayes is right now travelling under your heads," said Claudia and Rick couldn't help but look down. Then he saw a Jeep that was probably driven by a woman, because of the contexture of the driver. He couldn't avoid admitting that if it was commander Hayes, then she really knew how to drive one of those campaign Jeeps, because she passed trough the VTs and the rest of the securities of the ship located in the security perimeter at high speed and with very much ability.

"What's Lisa doing down there?" ask Roy a little worried.

"She went down to find out if there are any survivors," said Claudia.

"But for that job we have the Cat's-eyes, besides…" was saying Roy but something stopped him and then he continued, "she went down to find out if Ri.."

"Roy" said Claudia interrupting him.

"Sorry" said Roy and then he added, "Were coming back from our patrol, bridge."

"Roger that," said Claudia and her image disappeared from the screen.

Rick stayed thoughtful. What could it be that Commander Hayes has to go to search in the base, that Roy knows but Claudia hadn't allowed him to say on the open channel?

Lisa had parked her Jeep and entered the base. She used her hand computer that was in her right arm to move in the base. After walking for several minutes she hadn't found a thing, not a single sign of survivors. The base was in complete disorder. There still were some spots of blood that could be seen. It was as if the people that lived in the base had escaped running, tearing apart everything that they found in their way. Finally, she entered the place where the computers were, but there weren't signals of life there either- there were no survivors.

The computer had turned on alone and for some reason it was transferring all its information to the SDF-1. The heart of Lisa shrank and all her hopes started to disappear. There was nobody alive, nobody. Karl wasn't there anymore; he hadn't stayed there waiting for her. He hadn't accomplished his promise, Lisa thinks and the tears fill her eyes. After staying in the computer room for several moments, she started to look for the exit of the base - guided again by her computer, but this time for a different path, she would explore the base a little more, she needed to do it.

Claudia was worried for Lisa, she hadn't reported herself for the last 40 minutes and now everybody knew that she had left the ship without security personnel and that the data that was coming from the base had stopped. But suddenly all her worries left her friend. Vanessa had captured some kind of perturbation near the mountains and when they sent a Cat's-eye, the worst fears of the captain had been confirmed, the mountains around the ship were full of enemy pods.

"Order that all the vehicles of the transport come back and scramble all the VTs squadrons," said the captain.

"But Sir, Lisa is still in the base, she will never come back to ship on time," said Claudia worried.  
"Well she insisted on going to the base, now she has to find a way to come back in one of the VTs," said the captain angrily.

Claudia hid the look of fear from the captain and accomplished the orders that he had given to her. But something was wrong; the ship was not taking off from the ground. The gravity controls were working as they should, but the ship wasn't lifting from the floor.

"Captain, the sensors read an intense gravitational field under the ship," said Vanessa. The Captain stood up and walked to her screen.

"Gravitational mines, so this was the enemies plan, caught us like flies," said Gloval and moments later Claudia gave the alarm, enemy pods where starting their attack.

After a few moments of battle, the inequality of the fight was visible from the bridge. From there it could be clearly seen the massacre that the SDF-1 troops were suffering.

"There has to be a way to get out of this," said Gloval and after making a pause he added, "Show me again the blue prints of the base."

Vanessa put the image immediately on her screen. Gloval, after studying them again for a few seconds, finally said, "it's just like I thought, there is a reflex system located underneath Sara. If we overload the system, the explosion will be enough to destroy the gravitational mines of the enemy," and after some moments he added, "Claudia put Lisa on line."

Lisa was still walking through the base hallways, in the sub terrain sectors, so she hadn't noticed the battle that was taking place outside the base. Then the broadcast from the bridge came to her.  
"What? You want me to blow the base?" said Lisa. She couldn't believe what she was ordered to do. If she blows the base all her illusion would be finally destroyed.

"Yes Lisa we need you to overload the reflex system of the base so we can be liberated from the gravitational mines," said Gloval.

"But Sir…" Lisa was saying, but Gloval interrupt her. "Claudia put me on line with Fokker, if Lisa is not capable of doing it then we have to ask him for a suicidal mission."

"No, wait Sir, I'll do it," said Lisa finally, "I'll blow the base up," she added with a lost voice.  
"Good Lisa, keep your radio open so we can give you the instructions," said Gloval.

Lisa started to run guides from the prints of her computer. If she wanted to arrive to the place where the computers that control the reflex system of the base were, she had two options. One was crossing the intricate hallways of the base and the other one was giving a short ride outside of the base, right in the middle of the battle. For what Lisa could hear from the open channel of her radio the obvious option, if she wanted to secure the life of the inhabitants of the ships and her troops, was the second one. So she ran through the hallways to the exit of the base and made her way from there to the personnel barracks, there were about 400 meters, which should not be a problem in any other occasion but fire was pretty heavy. Finally, Lisa held herself in the door's frame, as if she wanted to take impulse from there and run faster. She took a deep breath and started to run, she ran as fast as she could avoiding the explosions and the enemy fire and she finally arrived to the barracks in one piece. Only there an explosion takes her down onto the ground, but she stood up quickly and started to run again. There, it was necessary for her to take an elevator that brought her to the deepest sector of the base, about 20 floors underground. As she descended the shaking of the battle start to be less perceptible, until it disappeared completely. The only problem was that the communication with the bridge was more difficult at every level that she went down. She was losing the signal.

Finally she arrived to the reflex system computer section and started to examine them so she could start to activate the necessary mechanism to overload the system. She was breaking the security system when suddenly she heard a voice.

"Stop, freeze," said a hard voice and the mind of Lisa was frozen and blank, but not her instinct because her right hand searched immediately her laser rifle.

"Don't even try. I'll blow your head off before you can even reach the gun," said again the voice, a little closer this time. "Raise your hands up slowly," added the voice somehow intimidating.

Lisa raised her hands slowly, just as she has been ask to, but she couldn't avoid asking herself if she was dreaming, if the voice belongs to one survivor or if she would be the first person to be in touch with the enemy.

"Throw your laser rifle away carefully," said the voice and Lisa moved slowly and threw her laser rifle.

"Now turn, slowly," said the voice.

Lisa started to turn into the man's direction, but as she did it she said, "Listen, I'm Lieutenant Commander Lisa Hayes."

"Quiet," said the voice and by that time Lisa had turned completely and was in front of the voice.

Then she realized that it wasn't the enemy, or just one person. There were five men and two of them were pointing at her with some old laser rifles. One of the men came closer to Lisa, to check if she had any other kind of weapon.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked the man as he checked her.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Hayes, first officer of the SDF-1, I'm an RDF officer," said Lisa.

"Look at this," said the first man and took Lisa's radio in his hands and threw it to the floor.

"No wait," said Lisa moving closer to the man but it was too late, he had already destroyed the radio.

"Don't move," said the man and pointed his gun straight at Lisa's head, making her stop and stay unmovable.

On the bridge they all had listen to Lisa's conversation, but suddenly the communication was gone, and there was only static.

"Lisa, Lisa answer me," said Claudia, but nothing, there was no answer.

"Do we have the location of the commander?" asked the captain.

"It's imprecise Sir, she is somewhere in sublevel 20," said Vanessa.

"Claudia keep trying to reach her, Lisa is our only hope to get out of here alive," said the captain. He was worried for the life of Lisa, as for the life of the inhabitants of the ship, as for his crew.

"Yes Sir," said Claudia and she kept trying to communicate with her friend. She prayed that it wasn't the enemy that Lisa had found, because if it that was the case, she and all the rest were lost.

Lisa was still there standing, with her hands behind her head, looking attentively at how the minutes went by and looking also at the men. None of them looked like a familiar face, they were survivors of the base, she could affirm that because of the discolor and scraped uniforms they wore, but non of them were familiar to her, non of them were Karl.

"Please listen to me. I'm from the RDF. I'm on your side," said Lisa impatiently.

"You are the enemy, from here we could listen to the explosions, you are destroying what you left of the base," said the same man that had spoken first.

"No, my ship is under attack and I need to overload the reflex system to let my ship free from the gravitational mines that have her captive," said Lisa.

"Yeah right," the man that had searched her said sarcastically.

"Bring the rest here Douglas," said the first man and the man that had searched Lisa left the room by a lateral door.

"You must believe me, if I don't overload the system soon we all are going to be dead, I could take you out of here in time I just…" Lisa was saying but the first man interrupted her.

"Quiet," said the man. Lisa stayed quiet squeezing her jaw with strength; she had to figure out a way to convince these men soon. Just in that moment five more people entered into the computer room, two men and three women.

"I told you that they have come to destroy what was left of the base, I told you Riber, peace is only an hallucination," said the same man.

The heart of Lisa just stopped the same moment that she heard the words of the man. Riber, he had said Riber. It took Lisa several seconds to finally react and then she looked at the men that just came into the room and her eyes were fixed on one. He had long hair, almost beyond his shoulders, a mustache and a beard. But his eyes hadn't change, they were Karl's eyes, it was Karl.

"And you believe that with only one woman they will destroy the base. You are paranoid Huges."

"She came to destroy the reflex system, she was about to blow all the base, at least that was what she wanted, but we stopped her in time," said Huges.

"She said that she is RDF and her ship is trapped in some sort of gravitational mines," said Douglas.

"What's your name?" asked Riber coming closer to her.

It took Lisa a few seconds to answer; she was charmed looking to Karl's eyes, "I'm Lieutenant Commander Lisa Hayes," said Lisa almost in a whisper.

The eyes of Riber where wide open and he felt like his heart was going to leave his rib cage. Then he looked better at the woman. She was tall, slim, with blond-brown hair, a little pale and with emerald green eyes, her beautiful emerald green eyes. It was her, she had finally arrived, finally she had accomplished her promise.

"Li…Lizie," said Riber fearfully, coming a little closer to her. He couldn't believe it, he could not believe how much his little girl had grown, his love. Lisa only nodded with her head, looking at him in the eyes.

"What happen Riber?" asked Huges.

"Drop your weapons right now you idiots, she is RDF, she is Admiral Hayes' daughter," said Riber and stopped just in front of her, a few inches away from her.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know her, because she was my fiancé," said Riber and looked again into Lisa's eyes, they both looked at each other's eyes. Just like they did years ago and everything that was around them disappeared; there was just the two of them, nobody else, nothing else.

"What are you saying Riber? Are you sure?" asked Huges, but Karl ignored him completely. "Riber I'm talking to you," Huges said again, but this time he grabbed Karl by the arm, forcing Karl to look at him.

"Of course I'm sure Huges, it's her, she is RDF," said Karl a little upset.

"I think that you are hallucinating Riber," said Douglas.

"Listen to me, I'm RDF and I am Admiral Hayes' daughter and if you don't pay attention to what I'm about to tell you then we all are going to die. And you," said Lisa looking at Huges "you will be the one responsible for the death of the 50,000 civilians that are on board my ship."

"Maybe we should listen to her," said one of the women.

"Of course we should listen to her," said Karl and softly took one of Lisa's arms, "What's going on Lisa?"

"My ship is trapped under the gravitational mines that the enemy put here, and the only hope is to blow the reflex system of the base and destroy the gravitational mines."

"What will happen to us?" asked again the woman.

"I can ask for a rescue team, they will be here in seconds," said Lisa.

"Then we need to communicate with your ship," said Karl.

"Wait Riber, you can't make a decision like that," said Huges.

"Of course I can, it's the only chance that we have to get out of here," said Riber and came closer to one of the computers. After pushing some keys he turned to Lisa's direction, "How do we communicate with your ship?"

Lisa only smiled and walked next to him. After a few deceived attempts they finally could communicate with the ship. The signal was weak and was broken at some moments, but Lisa could finally inform them that she had found survivors and that she needed a rescue team. The captain gave them the extraction point coordinates, a place that the survivors had to reach on their own, because there weren't enough VTs to make a secure perimeter.

Lisa also informed them that she would start the sequence to overload the reflex system and the captain told her again that everybody's destiny was on her hands.

The survivors started to leave to the extraction point and Lisa stayed with Karl, activating the necessary controls to overload the reflex system.

"Karl leave with the survivors, go to the extraction point, I'll reach you later."

"Forget it, I'll not leave you alone, besides I know the base like the palm of my hand and I could take the both of us to the extraction point faster."

"But is not your obligation, besides I could do it alone," said Lisa, and she was fighting with some controls that didn't allow her start the overload sequence.

"You're as stubborn as I remembered," said Karl smiling and coming closer to her and activating the overload sequence. It only took him a few seconds, "I think I can help don't you?"

"It's just that I don't want you to risk your life," said Lisa looking at him in the eyes.

"I'm with you, that's all that matters," said Karl looking her in the eyes too.

"Alert, alert, reflex system overload, ten minutes to the detonation of the base, alert, alert.." said the synthetic voice of the computer taking Lisa and Karl out of their stupor.

"I think we better run if we want to get out of here," said Karl.

" I think so too," said Lisa smiling.

"Wait for me a moment, I need to put on my space suit."

"You better hurry," said Lisa and Karl ran through a door next to one of the corners of the room. He took from there a space suit and put it on quickly, over the clothes that he had on.

"Let's go," he said when he was ready and took Lisa's hand and started to run.

They ran through several hallways, the base was truly a labyrinth and Lisa was now sure that if she wasn't with Karl, not even her computer would have been able to guide her. Finally they arrived to the door of the barracks, the same one from where Lisa had come in. They needed to cross again in the middle of the battle to get to the extraction point

"Ready to run?" asked Karl.

"Sure, how about you?"

"Me too," said Karl and held Lisa's hand tighter, "Then here we go" he said and they started to run. The fire was heavier than when Lisa had crossed the first time. They started to run in a zigzag to avoid the detonations and the gunshot from the enemy, but the fire was so heavy that at one point there was no way to get away from it. Karl jump over Lisa when he saw that one gunshot came in their direction.

Lisa fell to the ground and Karl fell over her, protecting her. She was intact, but Karl didn't have the same luck, the gunshot had hit his shoulder.

"Oh God, Karl are you ok?" asked Lisa when she saw the pained expression on Karl's face.

"I think so," said Karl and immediately he put one of his hands into his shoulder, "Are you ok?"

"Yes, but we've got to move from here," said Lisa as she stood up quickly and then helped Karl to stand up.

"Let's go," he said and started to move.

"No, we are to far away from the extraction point, we'll never make it, not hurt like you are."

"Lisa we have to move."

"Let's get back to the barracks, come," said Lisa and took Karl by the arm that wasn't hurt and they started to run in the barracks direction. On the way, Lisa activated her location signal, the one that she only had to turn on in case of an emergency.

They arrived to the barracks and Lisa entered one room, curiously it was Karl's room. The wound that he had suffered went through his left shoulder and had caused a lot of bleeding to the point that when they enter the room Karl fell into the floor.

"Karl," said Lisa and got down on her knees by his side.

"I'm a little dizzy," said Karl softly.

"What?" asked Lisa, the noise of the battle making it difficult to hear the soft voice of Karl.

"I'm a little dizzy."

"Don't worry, they'll take us out of here, I already activated my emergency signal," said Lisa taking Karl's head in her arms to help him to sit down.

On the bridge, Claudia started to receive the emergency signal from Lisa and saw that it was steady in some sector of the barracks.

"Sir, I'm receiving Lisa's emergency signal."

"The emergency signal?" asked Gloval.

"Yes Sir, the signal is steady in one sector of the barracks and there are only four minutes to the detonation of the base," said Claudia without being able to hide the fear from her voice.

"You think she is hurt?" ask Sammie.

"I think so, she wouldn't activated the signal for any other reason," said Gloval a little worried. He was sure that Lisa was in big trouble to activate the emergency signal, especially knowing Lisa, and how stubborn she was and then he added "send a pilot from Fokker squadron to rescue her."

"Immediately Sir," said Claudia and gave the order.

"Hey Rick, brother I have a special mission for you," said Fokker.

"What is it?" asked Rick as he fixed one enemy pod in the direction of his missiles.

"Well since you like to rescue ladies in danger I think that you might like this," said Roy funny.

"Make your point brother," said Rick a little bit worried.

"You'll see, we have a lady trapped in the base and you are the knight that has to rescue her."

"And who are we talking about?"

"Well she is nothing more and nothing less than Commander Hayes," said Roy making a wink.

"Her?" said Rick with no enthusiasm.

"I thought that you liked to rescue ladies in danger, but now I believe that I was mistaken."

"But it has to be that lady?" said Rick protesting.

"Don't protest any more and plug into the bridge so you can receive Lisa's location signal and I should remind you that you are about to rescue the woman that probably saved us all, is that clear?" said Roy now serious.

"Roger, I'm plugged into the bridge," said Rick now more professional as he logged into the bridge and started to go into the direction of the base from were the commander's signal came.

"Lisa you should go, if you stay you'll die," said Karl taking one of Lisa's hands that were now cover with his blood.

"I'm not leaving, I won't leave you here. I don't want to lose you again," said Lisa with her eyes full of tears, holding Karl's hand tight. With her other hand she put some pressure on Karl's wound.

"Lisa," he tried to say but she interrupted him.

"I won't leave you Karl, I won't," said Lisa trying to sound hard as a way to hide her sobs, "we're going to get out of here I'll promise you that, I have dreamed of this for too long to leave you now."

Karl only looked her in the eyes- they were still those beautiful green eyes that he had fallen completely in love with and that he still loved so much. He also had dreamed many a night like this, of seeing her again, of holding her in his arms again. He also would not let this opportunity get away from his hands; he would fight like he had never done before.

"Wait a second ok?" said Lisa and she stopped the pressure on Karl's wound and laid his head on the floor. Lisa ran to the bed and took the sheet from it quickly. She tore the sheets in several pieces and then she went back to Karl's side with some of them. "Now you will be better," said Lisa and put one of the pieces of the sheet behind Karl's head. Then with other piece she made a tourniquet that made Karl scream in pain.

"I'm sorry but that was necessary," said Lisa, pressing hard again on the wound, harder than before. She was sure that the hit had broken some artery and if she didn't stop the bleeding Karl would probably die.

"Do what's necessary," said Karl softly and Lisa pressed with more strength the tourniquet and the wound. She was very concentrated on trying to stop the bleeding when she heard a voice from the outside.

"Stay away from the window I'm coming in."

Lisa didn't react at the beginning and only when she saw the tight hand of the VT in guardian mode, did she react and jump over Karl to protect him with her body. A few seconds later thousands of pieces of glass flew across the room and the sound of the battle became louder.  
When she was completely sure that Karl hadn't been hurt by the glass pieces Lisa turned to the direction of the windows.

"Do not worry, Commander, I'll take you out of there," said again the voice and this time Lisa recognized the voice immediately. It was Corporal Hunter.

"What do you think you are doing?" asked Lisa upset, "you almost killed us."

"Commander we don't have time for discussions, the base is about to blow," said Rick upset too.  
"I know perfectly well that the base is about to blow and you do not tell me what I have to do," answered Lisa.

"Commander there is one minute and thirty seconds to the detonation, is it really necessary that we start to fight?" said Rick and now he had opened his VT canopy.

"Lisa we have to get out of here," said Karl who had found a way to stand up.

"You're right," said Lisa and ran to his side and helped him to walk to Rick's VT.

"He goes first," said Lisa when they were at Rick's VT.

"But my orders were to rescue you."

"You can come for me later, you take him now."

"But it just…" was saying Rick but Lisa already had Karl seated in the co-pilot's seat.

"Can you just obey me for one time in your life Hunter and take him out of here?"

"But what about you?" said Karl who already was pale from the loss of blood and spoke with difficulty.

"They can come for me later," said Lisa with a smile as she moved away from the canopy, "don't worry."

Rick was standing without knowing what to do. His orders have been pretty clear -he had to get Lisa out of there and leave. But now she had ordered him to leave with this guy that he had no clue who he was and there was no time. The base would blow in less than one minute and he couldn't come back to rescue her.

"Corporal what are you waiting for? Get out of here." grunted Lisa.

"But commander, what about you?"

"Just go, I'll find a way to get out of here," answered Lisa almost screaming to Rick.  
Rick looked at her. He knew that there was no time and that he had to go, and that he would have to leave her there.

After all, she had ordered him to do that and it was more than clear that she knew what she was doing, so Rick sat again in his seat and closed the canopy of his VT.

The wind that the engines of the VT produce when they turn on made Lisa turn her back to the VT to avoid been hurt from the glass pieces that start to fly. When the VT was farther away Lisa came closer to the window and saw Rick's VT, with an almost unconscious Karl, going away and sadness and joy mixed in her heart. She knew perfectly well that nobody would come back to rescue her, that there was no time and that she would die, but she had seen Karl again, she had seen into his eyes again, and saved his life.

But suddenly Lisa's blood froze. Rick's VT had started to descend and she heard through the speakers that there were only 30 seconds left before the detonation.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" screamed Lisa furious and scared.

"I'm going to take you out of here," answered the voice of Rick.

"I order you to leave."

"Well, I am disobeying you again," answered Rick, for some reason that not even he understood. As he saw the seconds go by, he punished himself. He had decided to come back and rescue Lisa, even when she had ordered him to leave. But when did he listen to her? And certainly he wouldn't start right now and neither would he let her die there, even if he didn't like the commander at all, he couldn't let her die.

So he had come back, even knowing that the time was against him. So he had to be quick, and before Lisa could answer him he, with audacity and just like he had done with Minmei, took Lisa with the hand of his VT.

"Let me go, what are you doing?" protested Lisa as the hand, rough in his movements but somehow gentle, lifted her up from the ground and took her out of the room of the base.

Rick looked again the clock. There were only 10 seconds left for the detonation. If he wanted to remain alive he had to be even faster, so he sped off his VT to its full power. With the free hand of his VT he covered Lisa, because he knew that they will be in the range of the explosion when the base blew up.

And that was what happened. A fireball covered the VT as he quickly abandoned the base, but fortunately Lisa was unharmed as Rick found out when they where in outerspace.

"Are you ok commander?" asked Rick a little bit scared when he noticed that Lisa did not move.

"I think so," answered Lisa a little bit confused from the violent runaway from the base.

They landed in a few seconds and the paramedics ran over Lisa immediately, but she pushed them away and immediately ran in the direction of Rick's VT canopy.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" screamed Lisa to Rick when she was by his side, "you almost killed us all out there."

"What are you talking about?" answered Rick who had been taken by surprise by Lisa, and who now was taking his helmet off.

"For playing the hero you almost got the three of us killed, that's what I'm talking about," answered Lisa pissed off.

"But we are all here alive, aren't we?" answered Rick.

"Just because you have luck this time Hunter, but some day that luck will be over and I'll be right there to remind you that," answered Lisa and after that she turned her back on Rick and went to check on Karl, who was being attended by the paramedics.

"Don't you think that you should be thanking me for saving your life?" said Rick to Lisa, raising his voice because of his madness.

"Listen to me Hunter, you are a soldier and you were doing what you have been order to do so don't wait for my gratitude. Besides, right now I don't have time for your sulkiness. But this conversation is not over yet, is that clear?" said Lisa as she came back in her step to answer Rick. She did it looking him in the eyes with one hand on her waist and the other pointing at him.

After that Lisa turned again and started to run in the paramedic's direction that had been taking Karl in a stretcher.

"How is he?" asked Lisa when she arrived to Karl's side and saw that he was extremely pale.

"He has lost to much blood, probably one of his arteries is broken, we'll take him to the OR to prep him for surgery," said one of the paramedics.

"I'll go with you," said Lisa and took one of Karl's hands and started to run by the stretcher, which was being moved at high speed by the paramedics.

"But ma'am you need attention too, your suit is cover by blood," said the paramedic again.

"Is his blood," said Lisa and looked at Karl and her eyes start to fill with tears. She couldn't lose him, not now that she had recovered him. "Have the best team of surgeons waiting for him in the OR, you must save him at all costs."

"Yes ma'am," said the paramedic and they started to put the stretcher in the ambulance. "Are you coming with us Ma'am?"

"Of course I'm coming," said Lisa and she climbed into the ambulance as it left the runway deck at full speed.

Rick remained standing next to his VT, as if he was paralyzed. For one reason, he didn't understand how he was charmed by the image of the commander. For one side, he had noticed for the first time how gorgeous the commander was. He saw her there in her tight space suit and saw her hair floating because of the minimum gravity of the runway deck. It had made him notice that the commander was a beautiful woman.

For the other side, he was intrigued. He needed to know who was that man that the commander was willing to give her life for, who was this man and why was he so important for the commander.  
Why he needed to know this, he had no clue. Probably just for curiosity or maybe the fact that he had discovered that the ice queen apparently had a heart; he wasn't sure.

And also he was furious. Who the hell did she think she was to treat him that way? God, he had saved her and that guy's life and the only thing that he had gotten in return was the scream and grunts of the commander. "Jesus, Who could understand that woman?" thought Rick as he started to walk to the interior of the runway deck.

Lisa had waited outside of the OR, with her space suit still all covered with blood until Karl had been taken out of the OR. The doctors immediately told her that the surgery had been a complete success. Only then and with pressure from Claudia she had run to her house, took a quick shower and changed her clothes. She had decided to put on some jeans and a sweater, something comfortable. Then she had come back to the hospital and waited in the waiting room until they let her get into Karl's room.

Finally they gave her permission to get in the room and she had stayed there all night sitting in a chair next to Karl's bed, with Karl's hand that wasn't hurt between her hands. She was falling asleep when she felt a soft squeeze on her hand and she immediately opened her eyes and saw that Karl had his eyes slightly open.

"Hi," said Lisa softly.

"Hi," he answered still a little bit sleepy.

"How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy and sleepy."

"Then you better rest," said Lisa smiling and resting her face on Karl's bed banister.

"Is it really you Lizie? This is not a dream right?"

"Yes Karl it's me and if this is a dream then we both are having the same dream," said Lisa and Karl only smiled and then he closed his eyes.

"I've missed you so much," said Karl with a sleepy, soft voice.

"Me too Karl, me too," said Lisa and she stayed there watching Karl fall asleep and after a few moments she fell asleep too in the chair.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Can a second chance change it all?  
Chapter 2  
Reunited

Author: Joanderson  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech or Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun.

Lisa had found the way to escape from her watch early, thanks to the help of the girls from the bridge, who made her work faster.

First she had passed to her house and made some arrangements and then she went to the hospital. She was there standing outside of Karl's room, but she wasn't able to get in.

Almost a week had past since they had escaped from Sara Base on Mars and today was the day that he would be release from the hospital. The entire week during which Lisa had spent most of the time in the hospital with him, they had talked about how everyone's life had been in the time that they had been separated. He had told her how he had kept himself alive in the base after the attack; how little by little the hope for the rescue had vanished. She told him her military accomplishments and how even when the possibilities were against her she had kept the hope that he might be alive on Mars.

Medically Karl was better, fortunately his arm wasn't to hurt with the shot that hit him, but he needed to use a sling and had several stitches in his shoulder and his arm. Slowly and with exercise he would recover the motion of his arm.

Finally Lisa got into the room and found Karl watching through the window of his room, to the city, sitting on the border of his bed, Karl turned in her direction immediately.

"Hi" said Lisa softly.

"Hi" said Karl with a smile.

"Wow you shaved your beard!"

"Oh yeah! Finally I shaved! I begged the nurse to allow me to shave myself," said Karl with a smile and added, "I also cut my hair."

"Right, you have your hair shorter."

"Now I look decent and don't look like a mendicant."

"You look handsome," said Lisa putting her head down.

"You look beautiful too, I think I haven't told you that the white uniform makes you look even more beautiful"

"Karl" said Lisa and her cheeks started to turn red slowly.

"I mean it," said Karl and he looked to the floor too.

"Are you ready to leave?" asked Lisa finally, after a moment of silence when the two of them had their eyes fixed on the floor.

"Yeah, well besides the pajamas that you brought me the other day I don't have anything else."

"We will have to change that," said Lisa crossing her arms and then putting her hands on her face thinking

"Where am I going to stay?"

"In the mean time at my place. We still are trying to relocate you, a few of you depend on your military status and some of you also have been located as civilians in the city, the rest are in military shelters waiting for their quarters to be ready. That shouldn't take more than couple of days"

"I see, but are you sure it's not a problem that I stay in your home for so long?"

"Of course not, besides you need somebody to take care of you, you are still hurt"

"Yes, but I don't want to cause you any troubles"

"Karl, you will never be a problem, besides you almost lost your arm and it's my fault, it's the least that I can do" said Lisa and smiled.

"I don't want you to feel guilty for what happened"

"Karl" said Lisa and came closer to him "don't say that, you know that this has nothing to do with guilt, I… I want to take care of you" said Lisa and looked at the floor again, to avoid looking at him in the eyes  
Karl took carefully Lisa's face, with the hand that he could move, so he could look at her in the eyes

"And I want to take care of you" said Karl and smiled and they both looked into the other's eyes. They stayed looking at each other's eyes, as if the time had stopped, everyone lost in the other's eyes and slowly they started to come closer attracted for some force that not one of them could control. When the distance between them was minimum, both closed their eyes; let them self-guide only by their hearts, hearts that beat crazily, only a few millimeters separated their lips.

"Are you ready to leave Lieutenant Riber?" asked one nurse entering the room with one wheelchair

Lisa bent down immediately and hid her head in Karl's shoulder, to avoid that the nurse see how red she was. Karl for his side only kissed Lisa's hair and still a little bit confused only nodded a yes to the nurse

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I can come back a few moments later" said the nurse, a little bit ashamed when she noticed how inopportune she had been

"Don't worry, we are ready" said Lisa and took the small bag of Karl's, then started to walk to the door without looking at the nurse, because she was still a little red

"Is it necessary that I use the wheelchair?" asked Karl trying to change the subject

"It is hospital policy Lieutenant," said the nurse

"Well, then I guess it's ok" said Karl and sat in the chair, which was led by the nurse and a few steps behind Lisa followed them with Karl's bag in her hands

After leaving the hospital they got into one small military Jeep that took them into the area that had been designed to be military residences. Lisa helped Karl to stand up and they started to walk to the place where Lisa's quarters were.

"Come in, this is my house" said Lisa opening the door and letting Karl enter

"It's pretty, you have a very lovely house" said Karl after giving a quick view to Lisa's house

"Well I have tried to make it comfortable, after all it is the military standard house"

"Well you have made excellent work"

"Why don't you sit down, I'll go to the kitchen and make something to eat" said Lisa

"You? Cook?" said Karl with a face of incredulity

"Hey what's the matter?" said Lisa defensibly, but kidding

"Well the only thing that I remembered that you knew how to cook was scrambled eggs"

"Ha, very funny Karl, very funny" said Lisa crossing her arms and coming closer to him, forcing him to sit down "you stay here and watch TV or listen to some music, and I'll go to the kitchen and I'll show you that I do know how to cook"

"Ok, I'll stay here" said Karl smiling

"Good" said Lisa and started to walk to the kitchen

"Maybe I'll search in the phonebook and find some place where we could order something to eat"

"You will see Riber, you will see, I'll make you eat your words" said Lisa and took off her jacket and put on an apron

Once she was in the kitchen she opened the refrigerator and found there all that Claudia had left there cooked and ready to mix. Lisa only had to follow the instructions that Claudia had left and warm the dinner, which according to Claudia's words would look like a professional chef.

After some 20 or 30 minutes, Lisa put out her head out of the kitchen to the living room, where Karl was watching TV.

"Dinner is ready, do you have enough courage to taste it?"

"Of course I do," said Karl and he stood up with some difficulties, to later start to walk to the small table that was in the kitchen, where Lisa had already served the dinner. The table had a romantic air, maybe because it was a very small table and because the seats were very close to each other.

"Smells delicious," said Karl when he was seated

"Wait until you taste it"

"If it's a third better than the hospital food, then I'll be happy"

"Karl" said Lisa protesting

"I'm just kidding, I'm sure that your food is delicious" said Karl smiling

They ate slowly, talking once in while, the most of the time Lisa answered Karl's questions about the town and the ship or they just simply talked about trivial things

"I can't eat any more, it was delicious" said Karl putting his fork over his dish

"You really liked it?" asked Lisa innocently

"It was wonderful," said Karl and with the hand that he could move, he took softly Lisa's hand, making Lisa flush

"I…. eh…. I have your favourite Ice cream flavour, white chocolate," said Lisa a little bit astonished

"I can't believe that you still remembered that," said Karl and lights appeared in his eyes

"You… do you remember my favourite ice cream?" ask Lisa with a soft voice

"Strawberries with cream" said Karl and Lisa only smiled, both of them stayed there looking at each other without releasing their hands for a few moments

"Do you want some?" said Lisa nervous.

"What?" ask Karl a little bit distracted, still lost in the green ocean that were for him Lisa's eyes, that charmed him every time that he look into them.

"Ice cream" said Lisa downing her sight.

"Oh, ice cream, no thanks, I can't eat a thing"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" said Karl and slowly he released Lisa's hand "May I help you?"

"With what?" asked Lisa slowly, trying to prolong the feeling of security that having Karl's hand between hers provided her.

"To clean up the table" said Karl

"Oh, no, don't worry, you go and sit on the couch and I'll clean up the table" said Lisa and stood up

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, well I don't know if you need anything else"

"No, I'm fine, thanks," said Karl with a smile, with one of those smiles that made Lisa's knees shake

Karl went to the living room and waited there for Lisa, who appeared a few moments later

"Lizie" said Karl

"Yes" said Lisa standing in front of him, few things made her heart beat fast and one of those things was when Karl call her Lizie, he was the only person in the world that called her that

"I don't want to be boring, but my shoulder is bothering me a little and I'll rather to rest a little, if is not a problem for you?"

"Oh Karl, I'm so sorry, sure, forgive me, I forgot completely about your shoulder" said Lisa worriedly

"You forgive me"

"Come" said Lisa and led Karl into her bedroom "You are going to sleep here"

"But this is your room, What about you?"

"Me, don't worry, I'll sleep on the couch"

"But Lisa, you can't sleep on the couch, no way, I'll sleep on the couch"

"Are you crazy Karl, you are hurt, forget it"

"It's just my shoulder, you just give me a pillow and a cover and I'll sleep on the couch, I won't let you sleep there and certainly not because of me"

"Karl" said Lisa protesting, "You are going to sleep here and that's it"

"But Lisa"

"But nothing, I've sleep in worst places than my couch and I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm an RDF officer"

"But you are a lady and I'm a gentleman and I'll not allow you to sleep on the couch"

"I'm not going to discuss this, you are going to sleep in the bed, period" said Lisa crossing her arms

"Lisa don't be stubborn," said Karl trying to cross his arms and looking at her with a frown, but he couldn't avoid a smile

"So you don't be stubborn either, you are hurt, and this is my house and you are going to sleep in the bed" said Lisa trying to look serious, but couldn't hide her smile either

"Lizie" said Karl pulling Lisa's jacket sleeve, as if he was kid

"You aren't going to get a thing with that, you'll sleep in the bed" said Lisa smiling

"Ok, ok, you always win. This is not fair you know that I can't fight with you"

"I know," said Lisa with a big winner face "I always win" added Lisa and winked

They got into the room and Lisa showed him the bathroom, pulled out Karl's pajamas from his bag and left them on the bed

Karl took his pajamas and walked to the bathroom, as Lisa took out of the closet the clothes that she needed for tomorrow's day of work. She opened the bed and accommodated the pillows. A few moments passed and when she noticed that Karl didn't come out of the bathroom she started to worry and came closer to the door

"Karl are you ok? Do you need something?" she asked

"No, I'm fine," said Karl trying to hide the pain from his voice. He was trying to put on the top part of his pajamas and moving his harmed arm to put on the sleeve caused him a lot of pain, but he did not dare to ask for Lisa's help, for some reason he felt ashamed

"Are you sure?" asked Lisa again

"Yes" said Karl and after biting his lower lip, he could put the top of his pajamas on. He stood in the bathroom a few more minutes, waiting for the pain to disappear and when he felt better he came out.

"Are you ok?" asked Lisa when he came out of the bathroom

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry" said Karl

"I open the bed for you and left you a glass of water" said Lisa

"Thank you" said Karl and started to walk to the bed

"Oh, and Roy, my best friend's boyfriend, got these in the military clothes store, I hope they fit you" said Lisa showing to Karl a pile of clothes that were on a chair

"Thank you so much Lisa, you didn't have to bother," said Karl

"It's not a problem, maybe tomorrow we could go downtown and buy you some clothes"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, but I don't have any money" said Karl ashamed

"That won't be a problem, I'll fix that" said Lisa and winked to him

"I'll return to you every penny," said Karl sitting on the bed

"All right" said Lisa shaking her head "I know that you'll do it anyway, so I'll not argue about that" added Lisa and started to walk into the bathroom. She got out a few moments later, wearing the pajamas that the RDF officer's school gave them and found Karl laying on the bed, but not at all, he was more sitting than laying, but with his eyes closed. Lisa walked in silence to not wake him up

"I'm awake" said Karl opening his eyes

"I thought that you were sleeping"

"No, I just was resting my eyes"

"Is there anything that you need?" asked Lisa

"No, I'm fine" said Karl and smiled "There's something that you need from the room?"

"Don't worry, I already took my uniform and all the things that I need for tomorrow"

"I'm sorry for having invaded your house"

"Karl, don't be silly" said Lisa and came closer to the room's door

"You're no trouble at all"

"I hope not," said Karl and after playing with the sheets for a while he added, "In fact I'm happy to be here"

Lisa smiled and rested her head on the doorframe "And I'm happy that you are here"

Karl just looked at her and smiled too, he knew that Lisa's words were honest, that they came from her heart, and that made him incredibly happy

"Goodnight" said Lisa softly

"Goodnight" answered Karl and a few seconds later, when Lisa's figure had been lost behind the door's frame he turned off the lights and closed his eyes, but the smile stayed on his face

Karl woke up in the middle of the night, he wasn't sure of what time it was. His shoulder was hurting him a little and he reached for the glass of water that Lisa had left him and drank a little. Then he stood up and walked to the window that was in Lisa's room and from where space could be seen. He looked at the stars for a while and then he examined a little Lisa's bedroom and couldn't avoid a smile when he saw one picture of Lisa on her graduation day. He had the same picture in his room on Mars and he couldn't stop thinking how much his Lizie had grown up. She was no longer the shy little girl that had enlisted in the army to accomplish a promise. Now she was a woman in the world, a career military woman, successful and respected. He couldn't avoid feeling proud, but also he felt sad, because he had lost all these changes and growing up of the woman that he loved. He knew perfectly well that there was no way to recover all that lost time, those almost eight years of absence, but he wanted to find a way to make up all this time. He would take this second chance that life was giving him and make the best of it.

He walked slowly outside of the room, into the living room, where he found Lisa sleeping on the couch. She was a little bit uncovered and with all her hair mixed up, but she still was beautiful. The soft light of the stars that came in through the window of the living room made her face shine, and the expression of peace and happiness that was mixed in Lisa's face made her look even more gorgeous. Karl stood there looking at her from the distance, without daring to come closer to her for fear of waking her up. Only the fact of looking at her made him feel numb and is heart beat faster. In fact he found it funny to feel this way, it was the same feeling that Lisa had caused in him when he first met her, when he was just starting to fall in love with her.

He started to walk in her direction, to cover her a little when suddenly Lisa opened her eyes slowly, then she closed them again and after rubbing them a little she opened her eyes again.

"Karl?" asked a still half -asleep Lisa trying to sit up on the couch

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up" said Karl softly and walked until he was by her side and got on his knees in front of her

"Don't worry, you, are you ok? Does your shoulder hurt you?" asked Lisa with a soft voice, still trying to fix the image of Karl in her eyes

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry" said Karl and took one of Lisa's hands, making her wake up completely and look at him in the eyes "I… when I told you that I was happy to be here, I really meant it. You don't know how happy it makes me to be here with you again," said Karl looking at Lisa's hand, that was between his

"I happy too Karl, more happy than what I could tell you or you could imagine" said Lisa looking at her hand between Karl's hand

"All those years that we've been separated, I… there wasn't a night that I didn't dream about being again with you, to look into your eyes, to hold your hand between mine" said Karl and kissed the back of her hand, tenderly. "There wasn't a day that I didn't regret the fact that I left you behind on Earth," added Karl with sadness

"I missed you so much, when…when they told me that everyone on Mars had die, I felt like the world fell over me, over my shoulders, I felt that I was going to die too" said Lisa with a broken voice and tears in her eyes. "I … hid in the most deepest place of my heart the hope of seeing you again alive. Dreaming about seeing you was what kept me alive" said Lisa and the tears had already start to fall across her face.

Karl looked at her in the eyes, with his eyes full of tears too and in a gesture filled with tenderness he wiped the tears that were falling across Lisa's eyes with the tip of his fingers. "Forgive me, please forgive me for making you suffer the way I did," said finally Karl with a broken voice too.

"I have nothing to forgive you, I… see in your eyes that you also suffered by being trapped on Mars," said Lisa caressing Karl's face

"Staying on Mars was my mistake and I promise you that I'll do everything that I can to recover all the time that we lost, I promise you" said Karl and kissed again the back of Lisa's hand.

"At least we are together now," said Lisa softly and Karl look at her in the eyes.

"And we will never separate again" said Karl and caressed softly Lisa's face.

Only that gesture made both of them fall into the spell that were for each of them looking straight into the other eyes and they started to come closer slowly and the closer they were, the faster their hearts started to beat. Lisa felt that if she wasn't sitting on the couch, probably she would have fallen onto the floor, because she felt that here knees were becoming jelly. For his side Karl felt that his heart would leave his rib cage and with every inch that he came closer to Lisa, it became harder for him to breath

When the distance between them was almost non-existent, they shared a soft, tender and full of love kiss, that for both seemed to last an eternity. When they separated they kept their eyes closed and finally Karl softly caressed with his nose Lisa's nose and gave her a tender kiss next to her mouth, making Lisa turn red and after recovering her breath she softly whispered

"You remembered"

"How could I forget?" said Karl to Lisa's ear, making her smile and blush a little more, when she remembered this habit that she and Karl had created when they were boyfriends, of caressing their noses and then kissing next to the mouth. At the beginning they did it because every time that they were about to kiss somebody interrupted them and to dissimulate they kissed on the cheek, because Lisa's father was the direct superior of Karl and a relationship between them was almost a forbidden thing. But later it had became a habit and remained as a secret for both of them  
Lisa hid her face in Karl's shoulder and he sank his nose in Lisa's hair, they stayed like that a long time until finally Karl kissed her on the forehead and smiled

"It will be better if I let you sleep, you have to work tomorrow"

"Right" said Lisa with a little sadness

"Goodnight" said Karl and kissed her on the forehead again

"Goodnight" said Lisa and laid back again on the couch, but Karl before leaving made sure that she was well covered with the blanket, only when he was sure that Lisa was comfortable on the couch he went back to the bedroom and got into bed.

Lisa woke up early trying to make the least noise that she could; she entered in silence to the bedroom with her uniform in her hand and got into the bathroom to take a shower. On her way to the bathroom she stopped a few moments to watch Karl, who slept peacefully and with a small smile on his face, which caused immediately a smile on her face. Lisa felt that her heart was growing in her chest, she was so happy because she was with Karl again; she felt that her heart didn't fit in her chest any more. Slowly she put one of her hands on her lips and closed her eyes to remember the sweet and tender kiss that Karl had given to her, the first kiss that they had shared in almost eight years and her smile became bigger and brighter

When she left the bathroom she stopped harshly when she discovered that Karl was no longer in the bed and ran to the living room, but she didn't find him there. Then the soft smell of coffee came to her nose, making her release her breath and walk more calmly to the kitchen

"Good morning" said Karl with a smile

"Good morning" said Lisa with a smile too and walked in his direction. When she was only a few inches away from him, she raised one of her hands and softly ordered Karl's hair, that still was in disorder and with the shape of the pillow

"Thanks" said Karl and took Lisa's hand and kissed it

"Your welcome"

"Breakfast is ready" said Karl and served two cups of coffee

"You shouldn't bother, I don't want you too make too much effort"

"Don't worried to much about me, besides it's the least that I can do after the great dinner that you made last night"

"Thanks, but remember that only yesterday you were released from the hospital and you must to take care of your shoulder"

"I know" said Karl and took a toast and tried to put some butter on it, but Lisa took the toast and made it

"Here" said Lisa passing him the toast

"Thanks" said Karl and both started to eat their breakfast in silence

"When will you come back?" asked Karl when Lisa stood up

"Don't know, I hope early"

"At lunchtime?"

"Probably, but don't worry about lunch, I'll buy something on my way back" said Lisa

"Ok, I'll be waiting for you"

"Well I… have to go, but I'll try to come back as soon as I can" said Lisa when they were at the door

"It doesn't matter how soon you come back, for me it will be an eternity," said Karl looking at the floor

"For me too" said Lisa and then came closer to him

"It's weird that we spend so much time separated and we actually make it through and now that I know that you have to leave for just a couple of hours I don't know if will be able to make it" said Karl coming closer to her

"I know, the same thing is happening to me" said Lisa and started to look for Karl eyes, but he was still looking at the floor.

"Come back soon" said Karl and took Lisa by her waist and brought her closer to him, making Lisa stay breathless and feel that everything was spinning around her, but then she looked into his eyes, that were looking at her and she forgot about the rest

"I promise," said Lisa in a whisper; without knowing how she could talk when she barely could breath

Karl started to come closer to her slowly, still looking her in the eyes. Lisa could see in Karl's eyes, that his words were honest, that he had the same fear that she had to leave him. But there was something else in his look, that fire, that sparkle in Karl's eyes, that made Lisa lose her head every time she looked at them. Karl look at her with intensity, the same intensity that was in everything that Karl did.  
When they were about to kiss, Lisa closed her eyes, she couldn't keep looking at Karl in the eyes, for fear that he could see in her eyes how much she wanted him, how much she wanted to kiss him again. Karl had always known how to read the secret that her eyes hid. But with closing her eyes Lisa couldn't help separate her lips a little, anticipating the kiss

Karl closed his eyes too and with tenderness he caressed his nose with Lisa's nose and then only touched Lisa's lips with his, barely kissing her, finally he rested his forehead over Lisa's and stayed like that, with his eyes closed

After a few more minutes Lisa still with her eyes closed and her hands resting on Karl's chest said, "I think I should go"

Karl only nodded a yes and slowly started to separate from Lisa, but took one of Lisa's hands

"Take care" said Karl

"You too" said Lisa smiling, without knowing what to do, Karl still holding her by her hand without letting her go

It took Karl a few seconds to let her go "Go, before I regret and don't let you" said Karl smiling when he released her

"I'll be back as soon as I can and if you have any trouble or don't feel good, please don't hesitate to call me, on the table are all my numbers, the first one is for my emergency pager"

"I'll be fine" said Karl smiling

"Bye" said Lisa and opened the door

"Bye" said Karl and stayed looking at Lisa, until she closed the door  
A few seconds later the door opened again and Lisa walked decidedly to Karl and gave him a kiss on the lips "Ok, now I better go, I'm late" said Lisa with a smile and left the apartment definitely, leaving Karl with a smile on his face

Lisa entered the bridge, trying for all the media to look serious and professional as always, but she couldn't get the smile off of her face, a smile that covered almost all of her face. A smile that the girls from the bridge noticed immediately and that when Lisa gave her back to them they started to comment. The watch was calm, for Lisa's luck and during the lunch break she came closer to the Captain, who like all the members of the bridge crew had noticed the good humor that Lisa had showed today

"Excuse me Sir, but can I talk with you?" asked Lisa coming closer to the captain, when he, Claudia and Lisa where leaving the bridge to  
have lunch.

"Sure Lisa tell me," said the captain stopping in the middle of the hallway

"Could it be in private?" asked Lisa a little shyly

"Sure, let's go to my office" said the captain and they walked in silence to his office.

Once they were in, he sat behind his desk and Lisa remained standing up in front of him.  
"Well Sir, you see, I… I want it to ask you a favor"

"About what?" asked the Captain

"Well, I know that the enemy has diminish the frequency of their attacks and well you see, I want to know if there is the possibility to take some days off"

"A day off?"

"I know that maybe this is not the best time, but I'll really appreciate it if you could just give me a couple of days off Sir," said Lisa avoiding looking at the captain

"Lisa you know perfectly well that the enemies are anything but predictable and maybe we would need you"

"I'll be available for any emergency Sir" hurriedly said Lisa

"When was the last time that you took a day off?" asked the captain seriously

"Well I…" said Lisa and stopped to think; trying to remember the last time that she had asked a day off "Since"

"I'll tell you since when" said the Captain and reclined his chair a little "since almost three years ago Lisa"

"Wow" said Lisa surprised, she knew that it had been a while since she had taken a day off, but she don't know that it was that long

"Of course you can take a few days off Lisa, in fact I'm happy that you asked me for a few days to rest"

"Thank you so much Sir, you don't know how much this means to me" said Lisa smiling

"I think I might know" said the captain and couldn't avoid a smile when he noticed that Lisa was blushing

"But I'll need to know that you are available for any emergency" added the captain

"I will be Sir" said Lisa

"There's anything else that you want to tell me?" asked the captain

"No sir, that's all" said Lisa smiling

"Good, then you can be dismissed and don't worry about the afternoon watch, you have the day off from today"

"Thank you Sir" said Lisa smiling again

"You have nothing to thank me for, now go and enjoy this day of rest," said the captain

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir" said Lisa and saluted the captain

"Oh, Lisa" said the captain when Lisa was opening the door

"Yes sir?" asked Lisa turning to see the captain in the eyes

"It's good to see you smile again" said the captain making Lisa blush again

"It's good to smile again Sir," said Lisa finally before leaving the captain's office

After leaving the Captain's office, Lisa went to the bridge to give some instructions to the girls from the bridge and to ask them that in any emergency case they shouldn't hesitate in call her. She also talked to Claudia to tell her that the captain had authorized her to take some days off and to thank her for the help with dinner. When Lisa was waiting for the elevator to abandon the military installation she saw far away Corporal Hunter and started to walk in his direction. When she was close enough, she raised her voice and called him by his last name

"Hunter" hears Rick and recognized immediately the voice. It was Commander Hayes and he couldn't avoid making a grimace, he knew  
perfectly well what was coming next. The commander had promised him a second part of the discussion that they had the day that he had rescued her from Sara Base and surely this was it.  
After all it had passed a week already and he just had too much luck to not find her all week

"Yes" said Rick with no enthusiasm turning to her

"Hunter, so good to find you, I wanted to talk with you for a few days" said Lisa with a neutral voice when she was by his side

"Tell me commander," said Rick, appealing to all the patience that he had to hear what the commander had to tell him

"You see, I…" said Lisa and stopped, she cleared her throat before continuing "Well I want to, to…, to apologize" said Lisa finally

"Ah?" was all that Rick was able to articulate, he was completely surprised, he was waiting for the commander to shoot off her artillery about how immature and how bad of an officer he was, and now she was apologizing to him.

"That's all, I just wanted to apologize" said Lisa and crossed her hands behind her back "I behaved in a very inappropriate way with you the day that you rescue me from Sara Base, I believe that I was very unfair with you"

"I… don't know what to say Ma'am," said Rick still surprised, he couldn't believe that the Lieutenant Commander Lisa Hayes was apologizing to him. The person that every time that he could had caused her a headache

"You have nothing to say Hunter. I just was unfair with you. I should thank you for saving my life and Lieutenant Riber's life instead of punishing you, but I guess that I was scared, so many things happened at the same time that they affected me in one away or another"

"You don't have to apologize with me Commander, In fact I'm the one who should apologize for my unrespectfull behaviour," said Rick finally. He knew pretty well that he had faulted by not showing respect to her, and not only on that occasion, and maybe this was the right time to apologize

"You did what you had to do and thanks to you Lieutenant Riber and I are alive"

"I just did what anybody else would have done, like you said I was just a solider accomplishing his duty"

"No Hunter, you were more than just a soldier, you risked your life to save us and I'll be always thankful for that," said Lisa avoiding looking at Rick. Then she add quickly "Well I just want it to tell you that, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior and thank you for saving my life and Lieutenant Riber's"

"Commander the truth is that you have nothing to thank me for," said Rick honestly. The action that he had done that day, he had made them for a reason that he still didn't understand very well, but he was sure that he hadn't done it waiting for Lisa to thank him. He just had done what his heart had told him was the right thing to do.

"Then at least accept my apologies" said Lisa and extended her hand, making Rick stay dazed watching Lisa's hand, and taking him a few seconds to react and hold Lisa's hand, making her believe that Rick would denied holding her hand.

"Only if you accept mine" said Rick as he held Lisa's hand and was amazed how soft Lisa's hands were and how delicate, but at the same time decided her hand shake was

"All right" said Lisa and gave a small smile, making Rick smile too. Later he was amazed; it was the first time in more than six months that he knew the Commander that he saw her smile and certainly she had a wonderful smile

"Well corporal, I have to go, and thank you for accepting my apologies" said Lisa releasing Rick's hand "Good afternoon" said Lisa and started to walk away leaving Rick there standing in the middle of the hallway, watching her until she entered the elevator and disappeared.

Rick was there standing with his hand still a little extended and a little bit admiring for the beautiful almost smile that the Commander had made, he couldn't avoid asking himself what had caused this change in the commander. How is it possible that from one day to another she has started to smile? And why didn't she do that more often when she looks so good when she did it? He was thinking about all those things when a hard punch in his back took him out of his thoughts.

"Hey little bro, what are you doing in the middle of the hallway and with you hand extended?" asked Roy.

"Ah? What?"

"Don't tell me that you saw again that girl from the Chinese restaurant and that she entered the RDF."

"Who Minmei?" asked Rick still a little distracted

"Who else made you have that silly face?" asked Roy and hit Rick in the back again.

"This has nothing to do with Minmei, In fact I was talking with Commander Hayes."

"With Lisa?" asked Roy funny and surprised "boy you got me completely fooled I was sure that you hated her" said Roy and winked to Rick.

"It's not what you are thinking Roy," said Rick a little pissed off "She came to apologize to me."

"Apologize? What for?" asked Roy now genuinely surprised.

"Because of what happen the day that I rescue her from Sara base."

"Well, well" said Roy and scratched his head for a second "So I guess that this is the Riber effect that Claudia talked about," said Roy more to himself than to Rick. In fact he had noticed a small change in Lisa; he had seen brightness in her eyes that he hadn't seen in all the time that he knew her and that they were friends.

And if she had come to apologize to Rick, who was a real pain the ass for her, then something was truly changing in Lisa, and that made him feel happy. He was happy that his friend let herself be happy again, and put aside this cold and correct military woman that she had become.

"Riber effect?" asked Rick but he noticed that Roy wasn't paying attention to him so he spoke louder "Roy I'm talking to you. What is this Riber effect that you are talking about?"

"Nothing Rick, nothing," said Roy avoiding touching the subject with Rick. Then he put one hand over Rick's shoulder "Hey little bro what do you think if we go eat outside the base? The food from the casino sucks today"

"Yeah sure" said Rick in a bad mood, when he noticed that Roy had changed the subject completely, Riber effect? What the hell was that? Did that have something to do with the Lieutenant Riber that the commander had mention? Who the hell was this guy? Asked Rick to himself intrigued, but finally he followed Roy outside of the base.

Maybe if he was lucky enough he would convince Roy to go eat at Minmei's restaurant and he could see her, after all he haven't seen her in almost a week and he had started to miss her. Besides, maybe he would find the way to pull from her some information about her favourite birthday present, thought Rick as he walked at Roy's side.

To be continue…

Author's note: I hope you like it, your opinions as always you can e-mail me at I'll be waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

Can a second chance change it all?

Chapter 3

"Time to remember"

Lisa arrived home with three bags of food and after a big effort trying to digit her secret code and opened her house door, she finally got in and Karl was sitting on the couch reading.

"Hi, I'm home," said Lisa looking between the bags.

"Hi" said Karl and stood up immediately "here, let me help"

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly well balance" said Lisa and walked fast to the kitchen

"What did you buy?" asked Karl and stood at the kitchen door

"Italian food, I thought I'd buy Chinese, but the best place in town is always full with pilots and I wasn't in the mood to deal with them."

"Besides I wouldn't like the idea of seen you surrounded by pilots" said Karl seriously, almost jealous, making Lisa look at the ceiling as if she was asking for god's sake.

"I bought ravioli and fettuccini, I didn't know what to choose, which one do you want?" asked Lisa after pulling out all that was in the bags.

"Whatever you want."

"Mmm, I think I prefer the fettuccine, the cream sauce is wonderful" said Lisa and started to unpack the fettuccini plates, then she quickly fixed the table and put the plates in the microwave "Can I ask you a favor?" asked Lisa.

"Sure, anything that you want" said Karl walking next to her.

"Can you watch the fettuccini while I'm changing my clothes?"

"Of course" said Karl and later he added "but that will have a price"

"A price?" asked Lisa with a smile and her eyes bright.

"Yes, a price" said Karl and came closer to Lisa and looked at her with sexy eyes.

"And what would be that price?" asked Lisa, following Karl's game.

"How about a kiss?" said Karl and trapped Lisa between him and the kitchen table.

"I think that is reasonable" said Lisa and looked at Karl in the eyes and started to come closer to him. Only a few inches separated them and Karl closed his eyes, to feel with more intensity Lisa's aroma, to appreciate better the sweet taste of Lisa's lips.

Lisa came closer to Karl, to the point that their lips touched and then she turned her head fast and gave him a kiss on his cheek and got away from Karl, escaping on the side of his hurt arm.

"Hey! That's cheating" said Karl when he opened his eyes.

"I don't cheat," said Lisa with her hand behind her back, looking at Karl from the kitchen door.

"Yes you did, the price was a kiss"

"And what did I do?" asked Lisa and put on her most innocent face "Now it's not my fault that you didn't specify where you wanted the kiss" added Lisa, making Karl make a disappointed face and a moment later his face start to brighten

"You are going to pay for this Lizie, you will see," said Karl when Lisa abandoned the kitchen.

They had lunch, again in the kitchen and when they finished they started to wash the dishes, then they went to sit in the living room with two gigantic plates of ice cream

They both sat on the couch and turned on the music equipment. She put in several Cds; old Cds that she knew Karl liked and of course were her favorites.

"I forgot to tell you how handsome you look with that t-shirt" said Lisa laughing at Karl, who was wearing a pair of gray pants and a t-shirt that said "Skull 01" on the front and had the skull symbol of the squadron. On the back it had the phrase "I'm too sexy for my shirt" and a cartoon of Roy winking.

"Very funny but it was almost the only thing that fits me from what your friend left, I mean ,How tall is this guy?" asked Karl. Even though he was tall he wasn't as tall as Roy.

"7'1" inches" said Lisa laughing.

"But I have to admit that you look gorgeous" said Karl looking at Lisa in the eyes. In fact Karl hadn't taken his eyes from Lisa since she got into the kitchen after changing her clothes. She was wearing beige pants and a soft green color sweater that let her shoulder be seen.

"Karl" said Lisa trying to avoid looking at him.

"I'm serious" said Karl and touched softly Lisa's face.

"Thanks" said Lisa and looked at him in the eyes. They started to come closer and share a kiss, but this kiss was a little bit more passionate than the one before, this time they not only touch lips.

"This was the kind of kiss that I was talking about in the kitchen," said Karl resting his head against Lisa's.

"You should have told me that," said Lisa with a lost voice.

"I'll have that on my mind for the next time" said Karl and separated a little bit from Lisa to look at her. Then he noticed the music "Wasn't this the first song that we danced?" asked Karl.

"Yes it is, you have no idea of how hard it was for me to find it," said Lisa and later she felt ashamed and bent down her head.

"Lizie" said Karl with tenderness and brought her close to him and held her "Do you remember that night?"

"Of course I do" said Lisa and held Karl and rested her head on his chest.

"Me too, like it happened yesterday," said Karl thoughtfully and they started to remember.

_Flash back_

_Lisa had gone out to the balcony that was at the end of the gigantic room where the party in honor of her father's promotion was taking place. She felt suffocated and uncomfortable between all those elegant, important and above all things boring people. The only thing that they do was talk about politics, money or criticized each other. Lisa had refused to go to the ceremony, in fact she wasn't happy at all with her father's new promotion, for her that only meant one thing and that was that now she would see her father less than before. Her father had turned more and more distant because of his work to the point that he seamed to be a visitor in the house, but her mother had convinced her to go to the ceremony._

_So there she was with a boring face that she couldn't hide, smiling falsely to all of her father's friends when they said hi to her or told her how gorgeous she looked in her dress._

_When it was a dress that she hated and she was wearing now only to upset her father, to make him notice how upset she was with all this. In fact she had been behaving like that, trying to make her father angry for awhile. Especially since he had taken home his new aid, a young officer, that still was in the officer's academy. His last name was Riber, he had attracted Lisa's attention immediately, especially the way he looked, with those bright eyes that every time he looked at her caused her butterflies in her stomach, a thing that she denied to accept. But even when she felt attracted to him, she didn't like him at all, the guy spent more time with her father than she and she was jealous, so she was trying to catch her father's attention by making him angry, because apparently that was the only thing that worked._

_She was resting against the banister of the balcony, when she noticed that a few meters away from her somebody had come out to the balcony from the other door. Lisa looked at the person for an instant, it was a military person, she noticed that immediately by the uniform, but when she looked at him with more attention she recognized the person, it was Riber._

_Lisa came closer to him furious and when she was close enough so he could listen to her, she said,_

"_If you came here to spy on me by orders of my father, then go back from where you came and tell him that I'm going home, that I'm sick of this"_

"_Pardon me?" answered Riber turning to look at her with surprise._

"_I know that you came here to spy on me" answered Lisa crossing her arms and trying to look pissed off._

"_You are wrong Miss Hayes, I came here for fresh air"_

"_Yeah right, I know that you came here to find out what I was doing" _

"_Then you are wrong, I came her for air, what you do is non of my business"_

"_Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?" answered Lisa angrily, trying to hide the way the pain that the officers words had caused and how naïve she had been by thinking that maybe he would put his eyes on her. After all she was only the spoiled daughter of his CO._

"_Well you were the one who started to insult me" he said and immediately noticed something weird in the way that she was looking at him._

"_But that doesn't give you the right to talk to me like that"_

"_And being the admirals daughter doesn't gave you the right to behave like you are doing"_

"_How I behave is non of your business"_

"_Yes it is" answered Karl looking at her in the eyes in a way that makes Lisa feel a little dizzy and flush a little_

"_And why do you care?" asked Lisa daring him, she was sure that he only was worried for her behavior because of her father's image._

"_Because you are behaving like a spoiled child that only wants to call her father's attention," said Riber still looking her in the eyes_

_The words of Riber, hit her straight into her heart and hurt Lisa. She stayed there looking at him confused, feeling how her eyes start to fill with tears. Then she turned and started to walk away. She didn't want him to look at her like that, as if he noticed that his words had affected her._

"_Wait" said Riber and took her by the wrist._

"_Let me go" said Lisa trying to escape from Riber's grip, but she couldn't, he held her tight and made her turn to see him._

"_I haven't finished yet," said Riber trying to sound hard._

"_Oh No? And you want to keep insulting me more?" said Lisa trying to hide the tears that fill her eyes._

"_I don't… I know that you are so much more than a spoiled child, that you are more than this rebellious and odious girl that you appear to be" said Riber, making Lisa freeze, she was breathless and looking at him in the eyes._

"_How do you now that?" asked Lisa after a few moments._

"_Because I've seen you… I've seen you when you haven't seen me and I could see that you are a much more valuable person and more fragile than what you show" said Riber and now he was the one avoiding Lisa's gaze. "I've seen in it in your eyes" said Karl and looked at her deep in the eyes and he flushed a little._

"_In my eyes?" said Lisa and looked at Karl in the eyes and slowly everything that was around them start to fade._

"_Yes, in your beautiful green eyes, they say a lot more than what you can imagine," said Karl and he started to fall into the charm that Lisa's eyes played over him. Without notice they found themselves kissing, tenderly under the stars light and the soft air of the night._

_The separated from each other and remained looking at each other, still lost in the eyes of the other, when suddenly they heard a voice._

"_Lisa, Riber, here you are, I was looking for you" said Lisa's father coming closer to them._

"_Yes Sir, here we are" said Karl still looking at Lisa._

"_Lisa why don't you come in, they are offering the first waltz in my honor and it would be nice if you were there"_

"_Yes Dad" said Lisa and slowly turned away her eyes from Karl and looked at her father._

"_In fact I'm going to dance with your mother and maybe it would be a good idea that you dance with Riber" said Lisa's father._

"_What?" asked Lisa in a scream, pretending that she was upset._

"_Please Lisa, only for this time, would you?" said Lisa's father afraid that she would make a scene._

"_But Dad" protested Lisa._

"_Lisa" said her father with an authoritarian voice._

"_All right, but it would be the first and the last time. Is that clear?" said Lisa with no enthusiasm looking at Karl from the corner of her eyes._

"_Fine, fine" said Lisa's father and started to walk back to the room._

"_Shall we?" asked Karl offering his arm to Lisa. He couldn't avoid a smile; he knew perfectly well what Lisa was doing._

"_Fine" said Lisa and took Karl's arm with no interest._

"_I promise I won't step on your foot, if that's why you are worried," said Karl bending a little to talk into Lisa's ear and smiling._

"_Is not that," said Lisa stubborn, looking at him haughtily._

"_OK" said Karl smiling and they entered the room._

"_It's just that I haven't danced a waltz before," said Lisa ashamed and almost in a whisper._

"_Then you'll have to trust in your father's presumptuous and displeasing new aide to guide you," said Karl smiling and with a glow in his eyes, making Lisa flush. She had named him like that in front of her mother, but she never imagined that he had heard her. Karl noticed immediately Lisa's reaction and came closer to her._

"_Trust me, ok?" said Karl and put tenderly his hand over Lisa's hand that was resting on his arm, Lisa was breathless immediately and the butterflies in her stomach were even stronger._

"_I.." said Lisa almost stutter._

"_You only have to listen to the music and let me guide you" said Karl smiling and realizing Lisa's arm, so he could take the dance position "They said that the trick is to look at your partner's eyes"_

"_But if I look at you in the eyes, then I can't look at your feet and I'm going to step on you and make us look ridiculous" said Lisa worried. Probably if she wasn't as nervous as she was she would have noticed that Karl's hands were shaking just like hers._

"_I'll never let you look ridiculous" said Karl serious, trying to calm her. "Do you trust me?" asked Karl and came closer to Lisa carefully. She only nodded her head and took his hand with strength and they started to dance. They looked at each other's eyes, always straight in the other's eyes, and suddenly all the people that were in the room started to disappear and there was just the two of them dancing, nobody or nothing else, looking into the other's eyes._

I was so scared dancing, I felt that my heart was leaving my rib cage" said Lisa.

"And I, I have never danced in front of so many people"

"But for some reason, I knew that everything would be alright if I trusted in you"

"And I knew that if I looked at you in the eyes everything would be fine"

"You think that my father saw us kissing?" asked Lisa and sat straight up to look at Karl.

"I don't know, I remember that in that moment I wasn't worried, but later in the night I couldn't sleep, it scared me to death the idea that your father would send me away to keep me from being close to you" said Karl kissing Lisa's hair.

"I couldn't stop thinking about how it was possible that you had noticed all those things only looking at me"

"Well I spent several hours looking at you while you played the piano, hiding behind the door that connected the room with your father's office"

"Do you remember how ashamed we where the next Monday?" asked Lisa in good mood.

"Sure, we were like a half an hour sitting on the couch unable to talk"

"Or look at each other, I remembered that I was red as a tomato when you said hi to me"

"And my hands wouldn't stop sweating, I remember that I never felt so much like an idiot because the only thing that I could talk about was the weather"

"Yes! And we ended up talking about the fauna conservation plans in Australia" said Lisa laughing.

"True, about the poor Kangaroos and Koalas" said Karl laughing too.

"But finally we could talk" said Lisa timidly.

"We could sit in the living room in front of the piano and talk for hours"

"And about so many different things" said Lisa with a smile.

"There was nothing I liked better than sitting there, in front of the piano and listening to you play, I could be sitting there for hours, only looking at you"

"And I loved to be there with you" said Lisa with a smile.

"Those were the most happy moments in my life" said Karl and kissed Lisa.

"And from mine, everything else stopped to exist and there were just you and me in front of the piano" said Lisa and held Karl again.

"Do you remembered your famous piano concert?" asked Karl.

"Of course I do, I still feel guilty" said Lisa and started to flush.

_Flash back _

"_But Karl, you can't not go" said Lisa standing in front of Karl, in the middle of the gardens of her house, with sadness._

"_But I can't go, I have to be at the base"_

"_But Karl it's my first concert, you can't do this to me"_

"_Lizie, there is nothing else I want more than be there with you, but I can't"_

"_You helped me in all this, you gave the courage to give the concert, you can't fail" said Lisa as she felt that a knot was forming in her throat._

"_You alone have the courage to do that concert and a lot more things" said Karl and caressed Lisa's face._

"_But I want you there, I want you to be with me" said Lisa and looked at Karl in the eyes with sadness._

"_But I can't, I have orders to stay on the base Lizie and you know how things in the army are" said Karl and with every word that he said he felt how his heart broke because he was failing her._

"_Yes I know" said Lisa and made a sob "but I still want you there with me" _

"Lizie" said Karl with tenderness and held her "you know that if it depended on me I'd be at the concert at all costs, but I can't" said Karl with sadness.

"_I know" said Lisa and held Karl "I know that you would do everything that you could" _

"_But even though I'll not be there in body I'll be there, I'll be on the base thinking about how amazed everybody will be when they listen to you play the piano"_

"_And I'll be playing for you" said Lisa looking at Karl in the eyes "only for you"_

"_You see, it's not that bad," said Karl smiling and taking Lisa's face in his hands._

"_No, but I still prefer that you be by my side" said Lisa._

"I love you," said Karl. 

"_And I love you too," said Lisa and they kissed._

_The day of the concert Lisa was ready to climb up on the stage, with her dress and hair ready, but she was very nervous. It was the first time that she played in public and she felt a knot in her stomach and her hands were shaking as she was waiting for her name to be called._

"_Lizie" said a tired voice, making Lisa turn immediately and she found Karl there, dress in uniform and standing there trying to recover his breath, exhausted._

"_Karl" said Lisa and ran to his side, when she was near to him, they hid behind a curtain "You came" said Lisa and smiled, holding Karl with strength._

"_Of course I came, I couldn't not be here," said Karl holding Lisa._

"_But how did you do it? How did they let you out?" asked Lisa still holding him and looking at him in he eyes._

"_They didn't, I escaped" said Karl shrinking his shoulders a little ashamed._

"_But Karl if they catch you…" said Lisa worried but Karl interrupted her._

"_They won't" said Karl putting a soft finger over Lisa's mouth to shut her up. "But I only can stay for a few moments, only to watch you play, after that I have to run to the base so they don't catch me"_

"_Karl no, you better leave, I don't want you to be reprimanded because of me, at least you came and that's more than enough to make me happy, really I don't want anything bad to happen to you" said Lisa worried._

"_Nothing bad is going to happen, now you get up on that stage and bring it on," said Karl with a smile._

"_Are you sure?" ask Lisa still worried._

"_Of course I am, I won't leave until I hear your piano solo," said Karl taking one of Lisa's hands and looking at her in the eyes only like he could do it, calming her immediately._

"_And it will be only for you" said Lisa and suddenly she heard a voice calling her name._

"_Go, they are calling you," said Karl with a sweet smile._

"_I think so," said Lisa and Karl came closer to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She started to walk to the stage when suddenly Jeffrey appeared, he was the man in charge of her father's security and officer of the Military Police._

"_Miss Hayes It's your turn to…" Jeffrey was saying when he saw Karl. "Riber, What are you doing here?"_

"_I came, because…"_

"_Because my father called him" said Lisa seriously._

"_But weren't you ordered to stay on the base?"_

"_But the Admiral asked me to come here specially to help his daughter" said Karl and when Lisa wasn't looking at him he winked to Jeffrey._

"_Certainly, I had forgotten" said Jeffrey and then turned to Lisa "They are waiting for you Miss Hayes"_

"_I'm coming" said Lisa and smiled and started to walk again to the stage. She disappeared behind the curtain, but not before turning to watch Karl, who smiled at her and winked, making her smile too. Finally she listened to her presentation on the microphone._

"_The admiral didn't call you, did he?" said Jeffrey when Lisa couldn't hear them._

"_No" said Karl ashamed._

"_You know that it is my duty to report that you escaped from the base"_

"_I know and thank you for not doing it in front of the Admiral's daughter"_

"_You have nothing to thank me for" said Jeffrey and then grabbed his radio and informed to military police that he was with Riber._

"I spent two days in jail and had only bread and water for escaping from the base" said Karl smiling.

"I'm so sorry, but I swear that Jeffrey had believed my lie, if I had known that they had taken you into custody I would have made my father act in your favor"

"But if you had known that your piano solo wouldn't have been as wonderful as it was"

"But you couldn't listen to it"

"I only heard half before Military Police arrived and that was enough"

"I'm still surprised the fact that you escaped from the base only for me"

"I'm capable of that and a lot of more things for you, you know that" said Karl shrinking his shoulders

"Karl" said Lisa with tenderness and caressed his face "and me for you"

"There are so many things that I should have done for you"

"What do you mean?" asked Lisa looking at him straight into his eyes, she could see clearly the sadness and the remorse in Karl's eyes, she knew that there would pass a long time until he could forgive himself for leaving to go to Mars.

"There are so many moments in which I should have been there by your side and I wasn't. Moments where my selfishness was bigger than my love for you" said Karl completely ashamed and with his voice breaking.

"That's a lie Karl you always were there when I needed you, you were there at the most important moments of my life" said Lisa and she felt how a knot was forming in her throat too.

"Lisa, I left, I left you alone, you know that I wasn't there when you needed me the most" said Karl avoiding looking at her.

"Don't say that" said Lisa and took Karl's face in her hands forcing him to look at her "You where there when I needed you the most" said Lisa with firm voice but Karl was avoiding looking at her in the eyes.

"Karl look at me" said Lisa and this time he did look at her in the eyes and they both had their eyes full of tears "Or you don't remember what happen with my mother?"

_Flash back_

_Karl ran to the entrance of the military hospital, the rain was falling copiously and he had been running for about 30 minutes around the military hospital trying to find the annex entrance to intensive care unit. He only was wearing his uniform jacket so he was starting to get wet from head to toe, but that didn't matter, he needed to find the entrance at all costs. Suddenly there she was, there was his Lizie, in front of a window with her eyes lost in the rain, more pale than usual and with an aura of sadness around her._

_Karl was 50 meters away from the window and he started to look around trying desperately to find the entrance to the place where she was and then it happened, Lisa's gaze fixed on him, and her eyes brightened. Lisa came closer to the window, to make sure that what she was seeing was real and not some hallucination and to make sure that Karl really was standing there in the rain. She separated quickly from the window and started to run towards the exit, to her father's surprise._

_Karl finally had found something that seamed to be the entrance and had started to walk to there. He needed to see Lisa and he no longer cared if Lisa's father found out that they were dating, he knew perfectly well that she needed him right now more than ever and he wouldn't let her down._

"_Karl" he hears a soft voice that was calling him and he turned immediately to find Lisa there, standing in the rain with no more clothes on than her skirt and a blouse, her hair more dark than usual because of the rain that had her completely wet._

"_Lizie" said Karl with difficulty when he saw Lisa like this, he felt the pain that she was feeling and that hurt him._

"_Karl, it's so.." said Lisa and started to run in his direction and him to her, and when they met they held each other tight. "It's so good that you are here, you don't know how much I have wished that you would come, you don't know how much I need you" said Lisa almost choking with the words and holding him with more strength._

"_I know honey, forgive me for not been here before" said Karl and then he kissed Lisa's forehead "Forgive me for not being here before"_

"_It's not your fault, I know that you are still punished for escaping from the base" said Lisa and looked at him in the eyes "Besides you are here now"_

"_And I won't leave, I won't leave you alone" said Karl and held Lisa tight in his arms._

"_I need you so much, I.. I feel so safe when I'm with you" said Lisa with a soft voice that was starting to break._

"_And I'll always be here, always" said Karl holding Lisa with strength trying to absorb her pain. trying with that hug to protect her. They stayed like that in the rain, until Karl noticed that she had started to shiver._

"_Lizie, you are shivering" said Karl and rubbed a little Lisa's arms to give her warmth._

"_I don't care" said Lisa with her eyes full of tears "I'm so scared Karl, my mom is…" Lisa tried to continue but the knot on he throat wouldn't let her._

"_It's okay honey, I'm here" said Karl and held her again and Lisa broke to tears in his arms._

"_Lisa" said Lisa's father a few meters away from them, covered with his coat and with Lisa's coat in his hands_

"_Dad" said Lisa cleaning her tears and separating from Karl_

"_Admiral" said Karl a little scared._

"_Put your coat on, you are all wet" said Lisa's father seriously. Lisa came closer to him and grabbed the coat and put it on._

" _Admiral I came as soon as I knew what happened to Mrs. Hayes…" Karl was saying but Lisa's father interrupted him._

"_I know Riber, thanks" said Lisa's father now a littler softer than before. Then Karl could see better and noticed how worried and emaciated he was._

"_You know that you can count on me for anything Sir" said Karl honestly, from his heart._

"_Thank you" said Lisa's father and bent down his head and then he added "In fact why don't you take Lisa to the house."_

"_But dad I don't want to leave" protested Lisa._

"_Sweetie you are completely wet, it's better that you go home and change your clothes and get some sleep, you can come back on the morning" said Lisa's father walking to her._

"_But I don't want to, I don't want to leave mom alone" protested Lisa again with her eyes full of tears_

"_Lisa if you stay you are going to catch a cold, you can come back tomorrow early and watch your mother then" said Lisa's father and put one hand on her shoulder._

"_But dad…" said Lisa but her father interrupted her._

"_Please Lisa" said Lisa's father with a voice that she had never heard from him before. It was like her father was giving up and that broke her heart._

"_Alright" said Lisa softly, trying to avoid looking at her father._

"_Fine, I told the driver that came for you" said Lisa's father and separated a few steps from her. Lisa immediately turned to see Karl who was looking at her but without knowing what to do._

_The vehicle arrived a few moments later and Lisa's father said goodbye to her with a hug and Lisa got into the car, as Karl held the door for her._

"_Riber" said Lisa's father and moved away from the car._

"_Yes sir" said Karl when he was by his side._

"_I…, you see, Lisa's mother is very sick and Lisa is very affected by all this. I know that your presence is very important for her, and I don't want .."_

"_Sir if you are thinking that I'll take some kind of advantage of all this, you are wrong, I'm in love with Lisa" said Karl and only a few seconds later he realized what he had said and couldn't avoid to feel a little bit scared._

"I was going to say that I don't want you leave her alone. I was going to ask you to support her now, because I don't know if I'm going to be able to" said Lisa's father looking at the ground.

"_Well, you don't need to ask me that Sir, I have no intention of leaving her alone" said Karl taking value from some hidden place that he didn't know he had._

"_Thanks" said Lisa's father and put one hand over Karl's right shoulder and then gave him a little hit "I know that you never let my daughter down, just like I also know that you're in love with her just like she is with you"_

"_Sir?" asked Karl surprised._

"_I have eyes, don't I?" said Lisa's father and started to walk away "I trust in you Riber, don't leave her alone tonight" he added._

"_I won't" said Karl and after a few moments he got into the car where Lisa was waiting for him and he sat by her side. Once there he took her hand and the vehicle started to move._

_They arrived at Lisa's house and Karl went to the kitchen while she went to her room, after a few moments he knocked on her door._

"Come in" said the soft voice of Lisa and Karl opened the door. He found Lisa sitting on the couch near the window, with a picture of her mother in her hands. Lisa was wearing her pajamas and a robe and her hair was still wet

"_I brought you some tea, it will be good for you" said Karl leaving the tray on_ _a small table near to the door._

"_Thanks" said Lisa and took the mug that Karl offered to her as he sat next to her on the ground._

"_Are you cold?" he asked with tenderness. She only denied with her head and after a few moments she grabbed Karl's hand with strength._

_Karl stood up and left his mug on the ground; he took Lisa's mug from her hands and sat by her side and held her._

"Mom is very sick Karl, Dad hasn't wanted to tell me, but I hear him talking with the doctors, maybe…"

"_Shhh" said Karl and held her tight "Everything will be ok, Lizie, the best doctors are treating your mother, you don't have to be worried" said Karl and kissed her on the forehead._

"_I'm scared Karl" said Lisa and the tears started to fall from her cheeks._

"_I know honey, I know" said Karl and he felt how his eyes were full of tears too._

"_If Mom dies I.." Lisa was saying but she broke into tears and Karl held her even tighter._

"_Don't say that, your Mom will be home earlier than what you can imagine" said Karl and kissed Lisa on her forehead with tenderness, but she started to get away from him._

"_I don't want you to see me like this" said Lisa wiping her tears._

"_Don't be silly Lizie, there's nothing wrong in crying" said Karl holding her with strength._

"_But you are going to think that I'm still a spoiled child" said Lisa between sobs._

"_I'll never think that" said Karl and held her and kissed her on the forehead again, this time she held him again and started to cry in his arms._

_Lisa cried a long time, until she finally calmed down, but she stayed holding Karl until she fell asleep. When he realized that Lisa had fallen asleep, he took her in his arms and put her on the bed and covered her well and with care so he wouldn't wake her. Finally he sat on the couch in front of the bed and stayed there watching her, until he fell asleep too._

_Suddenly in the middle of the night the phone rang. It woke him up with a jump and he ran to answer it, to avoid that it might wake Lisa up._

"_Admiral Hayes house" said Karl half-asleep._

"_Yes, I am" said Karl a little bit worried_.

"_What?" said Karl and his face change completely._

"_Yes sir, don't worry Sir, I tell her Sir" said Karl and then hung up the phone. He was pale and felt that some cold sweat was running from his forehead, finally he fell over the couch and waited there until Lisa woke up._

_The rays of sunshine entered the room through the curtains and arrived straight onto Lisa's face, making her wake up slowly. First she turned and covered her face with the sheets, but finally she rubbed her eyes several times and emerged from the sheets to find Karl sitting on the couch looking at the ground._

"_Hi" said Lisa a little ashamed and trying to fix her hair._

"Hi" said Karl with a lost voice, a voice that Lisa noticed immediately and her heart started to beat a little bit faster. Karl stood up and sat next to her on the bed.

"_How did you sleep?" asked Karl and tenderly he put some hair of Lisa's behind her ear._

"_What happen Karl?" asked Lisa with fear._

"_Lisa, I… I want you to know that I love you" said Karl taking Lisa's face in his hands and looking at her in the eyes_

"Karl you are scaring me, What's going on?" asked Lisa when she noticed something strange in Karl's eyes- sadness, fear.

"Lisa last night, at dawn" said Karl with difficulty. 

"_What happen last night at dawn?" asked Lisa and her hands started to shake. A cold feeling invaded her and a cold shiver ran through all of her body._

"_Lizie, last night.." said Karl and swallowed some saliva and looked at Lisa in the eyes with his eyes full of tears "Last night your mom" said Karl and immediately he noticed the fear in her eyes and how the tears started to fill her eyes. "Your mom… your mom died last night Lizie" said Karl as the tears started to run through his face and Lisa looked at him with her eyes wide open, without the ability to react._

"_My mom?" was all that Lisa could say before jumping over Karl crying, they both stayed there crying._

Lisa was holding Karl and the tears ran down her cheeks as he held her with strength and sank his nose in her hair, with his eyes full of tears.

"You were there when I needed you the most Karl, never say again that you weren't there" said Lisa looking at Karl in the eyes with tears still falling from her eyes.

"I told you then and I'm telling you now, I love you" said Karl and wiped Lisa's tears "and I don't think that will ever change"

"I love you too Karl and that will never change" said Lisa and came closer to him. Karl ordered her hair to look at her in the eyes, and they came even closer, to find themselves sharing a kiss soft and tender that reaffirmed the love that they felt. It was a kiss full of love that lasted until they both needed to breathe again and stayed there resting their lips on to the other.

"You know something" said Karl after kissing Lisa's forehead with his lips still on her forehead.

"What?" asked Lisa resting her head on Karl's shoulder

"I could stay like this forever, I couldn't think of any other thing that I would want" said Karl and Lisa only smiled and flushed a little.

"I love how you look when you flush" said Karl with a smile.

"Really?" asked Lisa looking at him.

"Oh yeah, your cheeks turn red just here," he said and touched with his finger tips the upper part of Lisa's cheek, "and your nose shrinks a little bit here" he said and touched Lisa's nose with his "and you bend you chin to your neck" said Karl and raised Lisa's chin, that was neat to her neck, because Lisa was completely red. When he took Lisa's chin with his hand Karl made her look at him in the eyes.

"You are making me flush" said Lisa smiling.

"Didn't I tell you that I love to see you flush?" said Karl and then kissed her again.

"Don't you think sometimes that you are dreaming?" asked Lisa looking at Karl and she felt like she was floating.

"Dreaming? Sometimes I think I died on Mars and now I'm in heaven"

"Don't say that" said Lisa making a grin and separating a little from him.

"Being here with you after all these years on Mars only dreaming I would find you again, this is heaven for me" said Karl and suddenly he stood up in a rush

"What are you doing?" said Lisa sitting at the edge of the couch as Karl was checking the CDs that were near the CD player.

"I'm looking for a song" said Karl as he continued his search.

"Tell me what song are you looking for and I'll find it" said Lisa and stood up.

"Oh no, it's a surprise" said Karl and continued his search until he stood up in a jump "here it is" he said with a box in his hand and with a winning expression on his face. He put the CD in the CD player and a few moments later they started to hear the music

_Oh - thinkin' about all our younger years  
There was only you and me  
We were young and wild and free _

Karl started to walk towards Lisa and when he was close enough he made a reverence and offered her his hand so they could dance, making Lisa smile and take his hand carefully.

_Now nothin' can take you away from me  
We've been down that road before  
But that's over now _

_You keep me comin' back for more_

Lisa crossed her hands behind Karl's neck and Karl took Lisa by her waist with the arm that he could move, they looked into each other's eyes and then Lisa let her head rest on his shoulder and Karl sank his nose into her hair.

_Baby you're all that I want  
When you're lyin' here in my arms  
I'm findin' it hard to believe  
We're in heaven  
_  
Karl started to sing the song softly into Lisa's ear, making her smile and give him a tender kiss in his chin.

And love is all that I need  
And I found it there in your heart  
It isn't too hard to see  
We're in heaven

Lisa raised her face from Karl's shoulder and looked at him in the eyes, then she started to sing the song too, always looking at him in the eyes and they both had a glow in their eyes, they both seamed to shimmer.

_Oh - once in your life you find someone  
Who will turn your world around  
Bring you up when you're feelin' down _

Now they both were singing the song, as they were dancing in Lisa's living room, always looking at each other and smiling. There were the two of them nobody else or anything around them, nothing else mattered, there were only the two of them.

_Ya - nothin' could change what you mean to me  
Oh there's lots that I could say  
But just hold me now  
Cause our love will light the way _

_Baby you're all that I want  
When you're lyin' here in my arms  
I'm findin' it hard to believe  
We're in heaven _

And love is all that I need  
And I found it there in your heart  
It isn't too hard to see  
We're in heaven

Karl took his hands away from Lisa's waist and took her face carefully in his hands, as she stopped singing and bit her lower lip, she felt that her heart was beating crazily and that she was completely nervous.

_I've bin waitin' for so long  
For somethin' to arrive  
For love to come along _

Lisa removed her hands from Karl's neck and put them softly on his face. They started to come closer slowly, to the point that were sharing a kiss full of love, mixed with a little bit of passion as they remained dancing and Lisa running her fingers through Karl's hair and he holding her tight.

_Now our dreams are comin' true  
Through the good times and the bad  
Ya - I'll be standin' there by you_

_Baby you're all that I want  
When you're lyin' here in my arms  
I'm findin' it hard to believe  
We're in heaven _

And love is all that I need  
And I found it there in your heart  
It isn't too hard to see  
We're in heaven

They broke the kiss when they needed air, then Karl came closer to her and touched her nose with his and then gave her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"There's no place in the world that I'd rather be than here with you now" said Lisa and held him tight. They looked into each other's eyes and kissed again.

They fell on the couch and held one another. Karl covered Lisa with a blanket that was on the couch and they continued to listen to music until Karl started to sing again in Lisa's ear the song that was playing.

Karl had sent her the lyrics of the song in the first letter that he had sent her from Mars and it had become immediately one of the many songs that they shared.

Tengo que irme ya, abrázame.  
Nada más llegar te llamaré.  
Déjame marchar, no llores más.  
Túmbate otra vez, te dormirás.

Karl took some of Lisa's hair and he put it behind her ear as he kissed her on the corner of her forehead and rested his chin on Lisa's head as she sank her head on his chest.

_Te he dejado atrás y pienso en ti  
Oigo "adiós amor" caer sobre mí.  
Quiero irme de allí, no puedo escapar.  
Necesito volverte a abrazar._

Lisa Inevitably held Karl closer and he did the same.

_Ven, cálmate no llores más,  
si cierras los ojos verás que sigo junto a ti,  
que no me iré sin besar  
una de esas lágrimas que van desde tu cara al mar,  
la vida viene y va y se va..._

_Salgo del portal, quiero morir.  
Tú en la habitación, llorando por mí.  
Tú me has hecho tan feliz que siempre estaré  
a tu lado, cuidando de ti._

Karl whispered the lyrics of the song with so much honesty that Lisa was sure that he would always be by her side, just like she would be at his.

Ven, cálmate no llores más,  
si cierras los ojos verás que sigo junto a ti,  
que no me iré sin besar  
una de esas lágrimas que van desde tu cara al mar,  
la vida viene y va y se va...

As Karl sang the last word of the song, Lisa remembered the last time that she had seen him on Earth and held him tight.

_Flash back _

_Lisa had escaped from school, today was the day that Karl's ship was to take off and take him to Mars and she needed to see him one last time, before they were reunited on Mars._

_So she had escaped from the backyard of her school and took the bus that left her near home. There she entered the property and took one of her father's cars and went to the base were the take off would take place. As she drove to the base she checked the security pass that Jeffrey had gotten for her so she could enter the base. She had begged and cried to Jeffrey so he would get her the passes without her father's knowledge and just the day before Jeffrey had given her the passes telling her that she had to be careful because if her father found out he would kill him._

_She had entered the base with no problem and now was looking for the observation room or the connection passage where the crew would pass, but she hadn't any luck, she had arrived late. The crew was already on the ship and the engines had already made ignition, she couldn't see him one last time._

_Karl came closer to the ship's window, he had the hope of seeing Lisa one more time before he left, to see her one more time, but it hadn't happen, probably Lisa's father hadn't let her come. Probably he was still mad at him because he was leaving for Mars. Lisa was the only thing that he would miss on Earth when he was on Mars. The only thing- if only he could take her with him. Karl continued looking through the window and something caught his attention, a spot standing near to the take off runway. A spot dressed in blue, with a Scottish skirt and a jacket. Then a smile filled his face, it was her, she had come to say goodbye to him, Lisa was standing near to the take off runway in her school uniform. And the eyes of Karl started to fill with tears when he remembered the sadness in Lisa's eyes when he had told her that he would leave. Even when she had made all the efforts, that night she had broken down in tears and he hated himself for that, for making her suffer. But it was the best for both, they both would reunite on Mars and they would be happy, in peace, away form all the death and war._

_Lisa looked at the ship, but she couldn't distinguish a thing, she only sees little squares that were the ship's windows, but she couldn't see anything else. How she wanted to see his face one more time before he left, to kiss him one more time. But it was too late, he would leave to Mars leaving her alone, but she knew it was for the best, she knew that Karl wouldn't survived living on Earth with so much death, war and devastation. But she would reunite with him, they would reunite on Mars and they would be happy there, only the two of them, nobody else._

_The engines started to increased the power and the ground started to shake a little, the ship was ready to take off and then from a window somebody was waving to Lisa, from one of the low level windows, near the engines. It was Karl who was there, Lisa had seen him again before he left and she couldn't hold the tears that start to fall across her face. She felt that one part of her was leaving with Karl on that ship, that part of her heart was leaving to Mars._

_Karl looked at her with attention, her uniform skirt was moving because of the wind caused by the engines and her hair along with her tears was floating on the air. He felt his own eyes full of tears, his heart stayed on Earth with her, and only when she arrived on Mars he would be completely happy._

_The ship started to move, to rise from the ground and Karl came even closer to the window, to keep seeing Lisa. But suddenly all that he could see were the stars around him, he was in space and now he only had to wait a couple of years until she would be by his side._

_Lisa saw the ship take off and stood there in the middle of the runway, paralyzed, Karl had left and now she would only live to see him again._

"Finally we are together, it took us almost eight years, but we are finally together" said Lisa looking at Karl.

"Eight years is too much time" said Karl with a broken voice kissing Lisa's forehead.

"I know but now we have a lifetime ahead, don't we?"

"Yes we do" said Karl and held her tight.

"What time do you think it is?" asked Lisa cuddled on the couch.

"Late, I don't know and don't care."

"Me neither," said Lisa with a sleepy voice and cuddled even more next to Karl to fall sleep a few moments later. Karl stood there holding her until he finally decided to get up from the couch. He accommodated Lisa as best as he could and covered her well.

He looked at her for a few moments and bent down in front of her, giving her a kiss in her forehead "I love you" he said. As he ordered some of Lisa's hair that was covering her face, he caressed softly the lines of her face and left to the bedroom, where he fell asleep between memories.

To be continued………..

Author's note:

The name of the songs is

"Heaven" Bryan Adams

"Adiós" la oreja de van Gogh

The details that appear on the flash backs are in part true information that I recollect of Riber from Robotech and from Macross, because there isn't too much information about him on Robotech, so I have to mix the information from Robotech with the info from Macross and invent a little too. So obviously there are thing that do not match with Robotech timeline, but I do the best that I could.

About the timeline, here is my own timeline about Lisa's life, for me Lisa has about 15 when she and Riber kiss for the first time, 16 by the time that her mother die, 17 when Riber left to Mars, she enter to the officer academy when she was 18 and just turn 19 when she was informed that everybody on Sara base has died, she graduated at 20 years old and the 23 when she was assigned to the sdf-1.

Ok that's all I hope you like it and I'll be waiting for your reviews

oh and thanks K71 for be my beta


	4. Chapter 4

Can a second chance change it all?

Chapter 4

A walk trough the city

Author: Jo  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech or Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man)  
To: Sphersian, to K71 for been my beta now (thank you so much), for all the members of the forum and especially for Carla.

Lisa opened her eyes and the nice smell of coffee and pancakes made her smile.  
She rubbed her eyes and got up and when she arrived in the kitchen she found  
Karl there making breakfast.

"Hi" said Karl throwing a pancake in the air

"Hi" said a sleepy Lisa

"You are ruining my surprise, I wanted to wake you up with the breakfast ready"  
said Karl with a small deception on his face and walking in her direction

"It's ok, don't worry" said Lisa trying to hide the smile that covered her  
entire face by closing the upper part of her academy sport outfit that she had  
put on before entering the kitchen "Do you need help?"

"I'm fine," said Karl when he was by her side "you look beautiful" he said and  
put some of her hair behind Lisa's ear

"Liar" said Lisa smiling and hitting him softly on the stomach

"You know that I never lie," he said taking her by the waist

"Really?" said Lisa looking at him in the eyes, with sexy eyes

Karl moved his face closer to hers until their foreheads touched and then he  
said, "you know very well that I never lie about that" and finishing the last  
word Karl kissed her with tenderness and passion, until something called his  
attention

"What's that smell?" asked Lisa who was still holding Karl and resting her head  
on his forehead

"THE PANCAKES!" said Karl and released Lisa and ran to the stove, in middle of  
the laughs of Lisa, who followed him to the stove and helped him to remove the  
burned pancakes from the frying pan

"Hey! This is not funny-" said Karl as Lisa laughed

"Of course it is, you should have seen your face," said Lisa leaving the frying  
pan in the sink

"Very funny, but all this is your fault" said Karl seriously

"My fault?" asked Lisa surprised

"Yes, It's your fault" said Karl and came closer to her "If you hadn't entered  
the kitchen and if you hadn't distracted me, nothing would have happened," said  
Karl looking at her in the eyes with sensuality

"It's not my fault that you can't concentrate when I'm in the same room," said  
Lisa raising and eyebrow

"It's your fault that I'm crazy for you" said Karl with tenderness and started  
to give her small kisses, little and tender kisses

"So, you are crazy for me?"• asked Lisa separating herself a little from him.  
He only nodded a yes and kissed her on the forehead

"You also have me crazy for you, you know" said Lisa shyly looking at the  
floor

"I love you," said Karl taking Lisa's face in his hand making her look at him  
in the face

"And I love you too" said Lisa and they kissed. When they broke the kiss Lisa  
kissed him softly on the cheek and held him

"What do you think if we have breakfast Lizie?" asked Karl kissing Lisa's hair

"I think it's a great idea" said Lisa and separated from Karl

They ate breakfast in calm and after that they turned to take a shower. While  
Karl was taking his shower Lisa washed the dishes and ordered the kitchen

"So what we are going to do today?" asked Karl when he appeared in the living  
room with a towel drying his hair and dressed with a black cotton T-shirt and a  
pair of used jeans that were too long for him and dragged to the floor. Lisa  
stayed there looking at him, with her eyes wide open and feeling that her jaw  
was falling open without being able to do anything to help it. Karl looked  
incredibly sexy; his hair still wet, it looked a little bit darker than usual.  
Lisa had noticed a few days ago that Karl's hair was a little bit blonder than  
when he was on Earth. Also she had to admit that his new haircut looked amazing  
on him. Besides the fact it was in disorder because he was drying it with the  
towel made him look even sexier. Then Lisa lowered her eyes a little bit and  
stopped on his brilliant blue eyes that looked more shiny and blue than usual  
and his perfect smile that completed his face, giving him this good boy look  
that he has always had and that had captivated Lisa from the first day. Lisa  
continue lowering her eyes and she noticed the black T-shirt that Karl had on  
fit him a little tight, but only tight enough to show a little bit of Karl's  
abdomen muscles. That made Lisa realize that Karl was no longer the skinny  
teenager that she had met. Now he was a man, of wide back and with arms that  
showed that Karl had been working out on Mars, because he had the muscles of  
his arms and torso very well defined.

Lisa continued with her inspection of Karl's body and observed that the jeans  
that he had on were a little bit long for him. Even though Karl was now taller  
than what she remembered. Although he was about 1.80 meters tall, the used and  
long jeans gave him a bad boy look that was completely opposite to the good boy  
face that Karl had. This translated into the perfect mixture that made Lisa's  
heart bit faster than usual. Besides that, the smell of soap and Karl's  
aftershave made Lisa feel that she couldn't breath. Lisa made a mental note to  
herself to check Karl's lower back when he turned, only to make sure how well  
the jeans fit him. In that precise moment Karl looked at her in the eyes and  
smiled at her

"What do you think if we go downtown? It's not fair that you spend another day  
here at home," said Lisa smiling too, when she was able to take her eyes off of  
Karl's body

"I think it's a great idea, besides I can buy some new clothes" said Karl  
looking at the clothes that he was wearing. Lisa laughed out loud when he  
turned and she saw on the back of the T-shirt the rabbit symbol of Playboy.

After that she checked how well the jeans fit the backside of Karl and she  
concluded that she needed to take Karl to buy a pair of jeans just like tose

"You don't think that I will go with you downtown dressed like that?" said Lisa  
raising an eyebrow

"Really and what about you? You are going downtown in the academy sports  
uniform?" said Karl raising an eyebrow too

"Very funny, wait here that I'm going to change my clothes and then we will see  
who will be ashamed of who" said Lisa and started to walk to her room, leaving  
Karl with a smile and waiting impatiently for her to come out

Lisa took a quick shower and left the bathroom covered with a towel robe and  
appeared through the bedroom door

"I'm going to close the door in case you want to spy," said Lisa winking at  
Karl, who was seated in the living room looking at Lisa's bedroom

"And you are going to leave me with no fun?"

"I thought that you were a gentleman," said Lisa before closing the door

"I am a gentleman, that's why you don't need to close the door," said Karl  
looking at her with a winning face

"Yeah, well you know, better prevent than heal," said Lisa laughing and closed  
the door

Once she was inside the room, Lisa stood in front of her closet and opened it  
completely and started to pull out all the clothes that she had. There wasn't a  
single piece of clothing that she wanted to wear at that time. She could even  
hear Claudia saying to her "Lisa, honey you need to change your wardrobe! Tell  
me Lisa, the last time that you went out shopping was in the academy?" And how  
right she was, all her wardrobe couldn't be more out of fashion, her last buy  
had been a sport outfit to practice kickboxing. But as far as clothes to go  
out, she didn't have a single thing to impress Karl with.

After she turned up side down her closet for the fifth time she finally decided  
to wear a pair of jeans with T-shirt with no sleeves that the trio had given to  
her for her birthday. With it she wore a jacket that Roy and Claudia had given  
to her for the same occasion that was still in the gift bag.

Finally she left the bedroom and the expression on Karl's face confirmed to her  
that she had chosen the best things that she had in her wardrobe and secretly  
said thanks to her friends for her birthday presents. Lisa only smiled to Karl  
and started to walk towards him with her jacket on her right shoulder, just  
like models do and stopped in front of him, but not before make a turn

"Do you think now I look good enough to go out with you?" asked Lisa looking at  
him with a smile and putting one of her hands on her waist

Karl only gave her a smile, one of those smiles that melted Lisa completely  
while he got up and stood in front of her

"What do you think?" he asked sensually as he put his hand on Lisa's waist

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you" she said raising and eyebrow

"Let me think" Karl said and suddenly he pulled her to him violently "I think  
that maybe I don't want you to go out looking like that" said Karl touching  
Lisa's lips with his and then stepping back

"Why would that be?" asked Lisa stepping back too

"Because I don't want any other man to put his eyes on you" said Karl and tried  
to kiss her but she avoided him

"Does that mean that I look ok?" asked Lisa, deciding to make Karl suffer. She  
could see this spark in his eyes, that something that appeared in his eyes  
every time that she played with him like this and it drove her crazy

"You Look much more than good" said Karl and this time he pulled her to him  
with more strength "You look gorgeous" said Karl softly when he was just a few  
inches away from her lips and finally kissed her. He gave her a quick kiss  
first and then he looked her in the eyes and kissed her again but without  
closing his eyes, making her look at him in the same way, like in an eye  
contest, but this time when they broke the kiss he bite her lower lip softly,  
like he was trying to contain himself. They stood looking at each other with  
intensity, waiting to see which one will be the first one to surrender in this  
eye contest. But like an inevitable force they started to come closer again  
and this time Lisa put her hands behind Karl's neck, making him come closer to  
her. They kiss passionately, almost fighting not lose control.

When they broke the kiss they looked at each other for a few more moments, with  
out daring to kiss again, until Lisa spoke

"What do you think if we go to the city right now?" asked Lisa taking her hands  
off of Karl's neck

"Sure" said Karl removing his hands from Lisa's waist

"Good, then I'll go to find my purse"

"Do you think it's necessary to take a jacket with me?"

"Only as a precaution"

"I'll go check which one of your friends jackets fits me" said Karl with a  
smile and walked to the bedroom

He get out of the bedroom a few moments later with a leather jacket in his  
hands, while Lisa waited for him standing next to the door with her jacket on  
and her purse in her hands

"Ready to go out and visit Macross?" asked Lisa with a smile

"Always ready" said Karl with a smile

"Then don't waste more time, boy scout" said Lisa and open her house door

They left the military sector and started to walk to the town, they had only  
walked a few blocks outside the military installation when the buildings and  
the shine of the advertisements appeared signing the city and leaving Karl  
surprised

Lisa turned to look at him and noticed immediately that his eyes were shining  
and that his mouth was slightly open out of surprise, making her smile  
Then she came closer to him and put one of her hands on his chest

"Welcome to Macross" said Lisa looking at him and smiling, making him bend his  
head and look at her still surprised and smiling

"This is.., it's an entire city" said Karl still surprised and unbelieving

"Of course it is, the first city in orbit with almost 50.000 inhabitants"

"This is wonderful!" said Karl looking at the city again with a special glow  
in his eyes

"Then don't stay there looking like a fool, let's go to visit it!" said Lisa

and took Karl's hand and started to walk towards the city.

They started to walk first by the park of the city. Karl was amazed by the  
trees and how beautiful the park was even when it was part of a space city.  
Then they visited the surroundings of the city. They went to the viewpoint and  
from there Lisa pointed out the main buildings and most important spots of the  
city to Karl. Then they went down, walked to the restaurant area, the movie  
theater and finally the sector of clothes stores. During the entire walk Karl  
watched the city amazed, like a child that is taken on a walk for a place that  
he had only dreamed and Lisa couldn't feel more happy. It was as if she  
realized almost for the first time how beautiful Macross City was, a city that  
she had visited only on a few occasions.

"What do you think if we go and buy you some clothes?" asked Lisa

"Great, it would be nice to dress in something that fits me," said Karl

smiling

"Karl" said Lisa rolling her eyes and smiling

"But it's true" said Karl smiling and pointing to his pants that were crawling  
to the floor

"Let's go then," said Lisa and started to walk only to stop in front of a male  
clothes store, then she noticed that Karl was still standing where she had left  
him. "What happen?" asked Lisa looking at him with surprise

"Nothing, I was just looking at you" said Karl smiling and coming closer to her  
and putting one of his hands on her waist "you are so beautiful"

"Liar" said Lisa raising an eyebrow, a gesture that for Karl was the sexiest  
gesture in the world

"Do you prefer that I call you ugly?" he asked with a sensual gesture

"Ugly?" she said with a frown

"Grumpy, do you really need to complain about everything?" said Karl and kissed  
her on the forehead

"Should we go inside?" asked Lisa separating from him a little

"Yes we should, in fact do you see the shirt in the showcase? How do you think  
it would look on me?"

"It would look good, besides that color looks great on you"

"All the colors look great on me," said Karl winking at her and entering to the  
store

"Vain" said Lisa entering the store as he held the door for her.

They entered the store and checked all the halls, choosing clothes together.  
Every time that Karl picked something he asked for Lisa's opinion and the same  
thing happened when she chose something for him. They bought some things and  
then they checked other stores. Before going to have lunch they stopped in  
front of a store that specialized in men's underwear and pants

"Are you sure that you want to go in with me?" asked Karl politely, afraid that  
maybe she would feel uncomfortable inside "if you want you can go home and  
I'll reach you there"

"It's ok, you have nothing to worry about, besides I wouldn't want to leave you  
alone" said Lisa with an easy smile

"Good, because I don't want to be alone, I mean I don't want to separate from  
you," said Karl smiling to her

They entered the store and Karl went to the underwear section while Lisa was  
checking the pants, she chose a pair of pants for him and started to walk in  
his direction

"What did you find?" asked Karl when he saw her

"These pants, but I'm not sure if they are your size," said Lisa giving him a  
pair of jeans just like the ones that he was wearing

"I think I'd better try these on, probably they are longer than my size"

"Don't worry sir, we can fix it for you if you would like to try those on" said  
the salesman that was next to Karl

"Where are the dressing rooms?" asked Karl

"Over here Sir" said the salesman and started to walk behind the underwear  
section

"Wait for me, I want your opinion about it" said Karl smiling to Lisa

"Ok, I won't move," said Lisa smiling

The two men disappeared behind the dressing room door and Lisa stood there  
standing in front of a box of sale clothes. She left the bags that she had on  
the floor and rest over the sale box

A few minutes later her eyes fixed on what was in the box and only then she  
noticed that it was a box full of boxers, which she looked at with no attention  
waiting for Karl to come out of the dressing room

Rick had left the base and went downtown. Today finally was his day off and he  
needed to find Minmei's birthday present no matter what it took. He had several  
ideas in his mind, but every time he had spoken to one of his squadron members,  
they had bought what he had in mind or something similar for Minmei. Apparently  
everybody was giving her chocolates, flowers, teddy bears or some piece of  
jewelry. So he had to find something original, something that Minmei would see  
and remember him and only him.

He had walked over the downtown three times and he hadn't found anything to  
give her. He had seen a pair of earrings that had a precious stone that was the  
same color of Minmei's eyes, but it was just out of his league. He had also  
seen some CDs and perfume, but nothing he really liked. He was walking caught  
up in his thoughts with his hands in his pockets, when suddenly he saw a male  
clothes store and remembered that he needed to buy some stuff for himself. He  
had forgotten to send his clothes to the RDF laundry and he had gone to the  
town laundry. With so much bad luck they had shrank everything, so they had the  
obligation of buying some clothes for him, but he had been so busy thinking  
about what he was going to buy for Minmei that he had forgotten that he had no  
clean clothes.

He entered the store and started to look at the shelves, while in his mind he  
made all the calculations of how much money he could spend and still have  
enough money to buy Minmei's present. By the time he had all the calculations  
done, he realized that his money would only allow him buy underwear clothes. He  
started to walk to that section of the store, especially to the sale box and he  
saw there a woman that caught his attention, it was someone that he knew. He  
decided to come closer to her, after all he needed to buy some boxers and she  
was standing right in front them. He was a few steps closer to the woman when  
he noticed who she was; it was nobody else than Commander Lisa Hayes. Rick  
stopped a moment to watch her, in middle of some shelves and a mannequin. The  
commander was standing in front of the box with several bags at her feet,  
dressed in a pair of jeans that showed her long legs and a tight jacket. Ok, he  
had to admit that the commander looked pretty attractive and much younger and  
how to say it, alive? Fresh? In a word different, especially with her hair free  
and looking a little bit curly. Suddenly a smile crossed Rick's face; maybe he  
could take some advantage of the situation

He started to walk towards Lisa's direction and when he was a few steps away  
from her he asked with the most naïve and surprised voice that he could fake  
"Commander Hayes?"

Lisa heard the voice and couldn't avoid jumping. She turned immediately to the  
voice's direction, she thought that she had recognized the voice and prayed to  
all the saints that the voice didn't belong to who she thought it belonged. But  
her prayers weren't answered and it was Rick Hunter who she found standing in  
front of her

"Yes?" said Lisa surprised bending down her head

"What a surprise find you here Ma'am" said Rick almost with an evil smile on  
his face

"Certainly" said Lisa a little bit ashamed

"What brings you here?" asked Rick resting on the box

"I came with someone"

"I see," said Rick looking around incredulous

"It's true," said Lisa in a hurry when she noticed the incredulity on Rick's  
face

"As you said Commander," said Rick with a smile

"It's true corporal, he is in the dressing rooms" said Lisa nervous, afraid  
that Rick wouldn't believe her

"Well I guess then it's not wrong that you're visiting a man's store," said  
Rick putting one of his hands on his waist

"No.. of course not" said Lisa a little confused

"Besides you know how the gossips are here in Macross, it would be bad if the  
first officer of the SDF-1 was seen visiting a male's underwear store alone,  
don't you think?" asked Rick almost tempting his good luck. He enjoyed too much  
seeing the commander nervous, out of place. In fact he almost had to bite his  
tongue not to laugh when he noticed that Lisa was starting to flush

"You're right, it would be bad" finally was all Lisa could articulate, as she  
felt that her cheeks started to turn red

Rick bent down his head so as not look at her and that way she wouldn't see him  
laughing. At the same time Lisa bent down her face so he would not see how  
ashamed she was

"Commander?" said Rick and made a pause

"Yes?" asked Lisa

"Would you mind turning around while I chose the underwear that I want to buy  
for myself?" said Rick and he took a pair of boxers in his hands

"Oh sure…yes.. don't worry" said Lisa nervous and turned immediately, but with  
such bad luck that she turned too fast and hit the edge of the box, making the  
box lose balance and fall to the floor throwing away all that was in it

"Da !" Said Lisa when she noticed the disaster that she had caused and bent  
down immediately to pick up all that had been thrown to the ground. She tried  
first to put the box up again, but she was so nervous that the box fell to the  
floor again. Rick was still holding the pair of boxers in his hands and  
couldn't hold the laughter any longer. He started to laugh in silence when he  
saw Lisa so nervous and red, a laugh that Lisa noticed immediately and that  
made her more nervous and wasn't helping her to calm down

Rick finally bent down and started to help her to pick up all the boxers that  
had fallen to the floor. They finally picked up everything that was in the box  
and Lisa remained with a pair of boxers in her hands waiting to put it in the  
box

"Could you pass me those boxers? They are the model and the color that I was  
looking for," said Rick

"Eh? Oh yes, take it" said Lisa and passed him immediately the boxers that she  
had with a shaky hand

"Yes, this are the ones," said Rick looking at the boxers closely "You have  
great taste commander, you just found my size" said Rick showing her a pair of  
black Calvin Klein boxers

"Eh.. Eh.. I.." said Lisa looking away from the boxers, red as a tomato

"Lizie" she heard a voice to her back and she gave a released breath

"Karl" said Lisa and turned in his direction still red and Karl looked at her  
almost with an interrogation sign on his face when he saw her there with  
another man

"I waned to ask you what you think of these jeans, but I didn't know that you  
were talking with somebody, sorry to interrupt" said Karl standing in front of  
Lisa with his hands in his pocket

"Oh I.." said Lisa and turned to see Rick who was still with the boxers in his  
hands and with a smile on his face because Lisa was still red and nervous. He  
thought it was almost unreal that she was so nervous for something that small  
and with no importance "I want you to meet Corporal Hunter"

"Nice to meet you" said Karl giving his hand to Rick

"This is Lieutenant Riber," said Lisa when Rick was already shaking Karl's  
hand. In that same instant Rick's smile was replaced with a more serious  
expression

"Nice to meet you too" said Rick politely observing Karl for an instant. To be  
honest Rick hadn't recognized him, now that Riber had his hair short and was  
wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He no longer had the long hair and his prehistoric  
space suit nor did he have the look of the mendicant that Rick had rescued on  
Mars

"Your name sounds familiar to me somehow," said Karl looking at Rick

"He was the man that rescued us on Mars" said Lisa standing by Karl's side

"Yes, now I remember" said Karl shaking Rick's hands again "Thank you very much  
corporal, you were very brave there on Mars, Thank you very much" said Karl  
shaking Rick's hand effusively, genuinely thankful

"I was just doing my job," said Rick a little bit uncomfortable

"But you saved our lives, you gave me a second chance, you gave us a second  
chance" said Karl and looked at Lisa, who smiled at him

"You have nothing to thank me for"

"Oh, you have no idea of how much I have to thank you for" said Karl and smiled  
again

"Well I have to go, I have to get back to the base" said Rick, who felt  
incredibly uncomfortable in Riber's presence, he felt somehow that Riber was  
invading his space

"It was a pleasure to meet you Hunter and if I can help you with something,  
count on me for everything, after all I owe you my life" said Karl and shook  
Rick's hand again

"Like I said before, you have nothing to thank me for, but thank you anyway for  
your offer" said Rick shaking his hand "Well I have to go, bye"

"Bye" said Karl

"Goodbye commander" said Rick saluting Lisa

"Goodbye corporal" said Lisa and bent down her head

Rick walked away from them and moved to the cashier's desk to pay From there he  
watched Lisa talking happily with Riber as Riber spun around, so she could see  
the pants that he had on. Then he noticed that Riber was wearing the T-shirt  
that he had given to Roy on his birthday when he was still flying in his father  
flying circus. In that precise moment he felt his blood start to boil. Who the  
hell was this guy to be wearing the T-shirt that he had given to Roy? To be  
like that with the commander like they had known each other for a lifetime?  
Even more, what decent man would bring a lady to a male underwear store? Rick  
felt that in some way Riber was invading his space, taking something that  
belonged to him.

Finally he walked to the exit of the store and before crossing the door he  
looked back and saw Lisa laughing while Karl took one of her hands and pulled  
her towards him. She gave him a small punch in his unharmed arm and he shook  
her hair and went back to the dressing room.  
Finally, he left the store feeling upset and decided to find that present for  
Minmei as a way to clear his mind.

Lisa and Karl left the clothes store and went to a small restaurant in the city  
that was away from all the noise. They had lunch in calm, talking, laughing and  
enjoying the food. After that they finished their tour of the city and finally  
they stopped at a store to rent some movies and watch them in the comfort of  
Lisa's house. Karl picked one and Lisa another and then they went to the  
supermarket to buy all the necessary food to enjoy a relaxing afternoon  
watching movies.

They walked through the park again and stopped in front of a big oak that was  
in one of the corners of the park

"Doesn't this tree remind you of the one that was at your house?" asked Karl  
watching the tree

"Now that you mention it yes, it's looks like that tree"

"Can you imagine the things that tree could say if it could speak?" said Karl  
smiling

"Don't even say it" said Lisa and looked at the tree thoughtfully

"The last time that we were in front of that tree was the day that I told you  
that I was leaving to Mars"

"Yes I prefer to remember when we met there behind my father's back"

"Do you remember when I would leave you notes in the middle of your piano  
score, so we could meet at the tree at a time that we set"

"Yes, and I would leave you notes in middle of my father's mail that I knew you  
would check"

"Several times your father was about to find one of those notes"

"And Mom yours"

"You know what? We should make this tree our meeting point" said Karl and  
looked at Lisa in the eyes

"That would be great, we can come here to the park and sit here and remember  
old times"

"Yes, only you and me" said Karl and came closer to her and gave her a kiss on  
her forehead

"Maybe we could put our names here finally," said Lisa with a smile

"I can't believe that you still want to do that" said Karl laughing

"You can be so annoying sometimes" said Lisa and push him softly

"I'm just kidding, the next time that we come here I'll carve our names on the  
tree"

"Mmm, maybe it isn't a very good idea, after all I'm the first officer of the  
ship and it would look bad that my name is carved on a tree"

"Are you serious?" asked Karl surprised

"Yes" said Lisa serious and watched Karl's expression for a few seconds. He  
looked disappointed and then she started to laugh "I was just kidding"

"You are evil" he said and pushed her softly

"Fool"

"Grumpy"

"Annoying"

"Ugly"

"Karl!" protested Lisa

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, you know that you are the most beautiful woman in  
the universe" said Karl and hugged her but she moved away from him "come on  
Lisa, don't be mad"

"You are such a pain," said Lisa pretending that she was hurt

"Gorgeous, you are the most gorgeous woman on the Earth" said Karl looking at  
her, but Lisa still was wearing her hurt face. "Of the galaxy?" asked Karl but  
Lisa's expression didn't change "Of the Universe?" asked Karl and look at her  
with a puppy face "Do you want me to scream it? Because you know that I will"  
said Karl and Lisa only raised an eyebrow

"LISA HAYES IS..!" was Karl saying but Lisa cover his mouth with her hand

"It's ok, it's ok, I forgive you" said Lisa laughing

"Really?" he said, still with his puppy face and she only smiled and grabbed  
his arm

"Let's go home to watch movies" said Lisa and held his arm and they started to  
walk

Rick was walking through the park angry. He had been paged from the bridge for  
an emergency flight, so he couldn't buy the present for Minmei. Even more he  
was pissed off because this guy Riber was wearing the T-shirt that he had given  
to Roy. He was walking through the park because it was the short way to the  
base. He walked with his fist tight and wanting to strangle the officer that  
was replacing Lisa.

And if that wasn't enough when he was leaving the park he found there nobody  
else than Riber and of course he was with Commander Hayes. They were in front  
of a tree laughing and pushing each other, like they were a pair of students  
and suddenly he heard him say something loud. Something like 'Hayes is' or  
something like that and then he saw her covering his mouth and later held him  
and walked away. She was holding his arm and few steps ahead he kissed her on  
the forehead.

What that supposed to mean? Was she dating this guy? No he didn't think so, she  
only loved her work, she was incapable of loving someone else, he said to  
himself. But what would happen if she were dating this guy? asked Rick to  
himself as he was leaving the park. But he convinced himself that wouldn't  
happen. Probably the guy was a friend of the commander and they had met from a  
long time ago. Probably that was the reason why she had wanted to save him on  
Mars and it was logical that between friends they had went out, shopping and  
walking together. Apparently the commander did have a friend; concluded Rick  
while he climbed up to a military car that would take him to the base. What if  
he was more than just a friend of the commander? His subconscious mind seemed  
to ask.

Lisa and Karl arrived home. While Karl went to the bedroom to order his new  
clothes in one of the drawers that Lisa had saved for him, Lisa went to the  
kitchen to make some popcorn, and to serve the soda and the candies so they  
could start their movie afternoon. Once she was all set, she arrived to the  
bedroom with a tray with all the food.

"Ready to watch movies?" asked Lisa

"Almost" said Karl as he hung his jackets in the closet, closed the door and  
turned in Lisa's direction "now I'm ready" he said

"Fine, then I'm going to leave this here" said Lisa and left the tray on the  
bed

"But Lizie, the TV is in the living room" said Karl

"Aha, that's what you think, wait a second" said Lisa and closed the curtains  
of the room, turned off the lights and cleared the table that was in front of  
the bed "just watch the amazing things that technology does" said Lisa and  
pushed a button. In the same moment the wall of Lisa's bedroom started to open  
and in front of Karl's eyes appeared a giant TV screen, flat liquid crystal,  
that covered almost half of Lisa's bedroom wall

"What were you saying about the TV?" asked Lisa looking at Karl

"This is, oh my God, amazing" said Karla and came closer to the screen

"Doctor Lang developed the screen for data transmission for the bridge and well  
you know the benefits of being the first officer of the ship" said Lisa winking  
at him

"This is like having the movie theater in your home, literally" said Karl  
walking towards Lisa

"Well you know, I have always liked movies"

"You always love to watch the same old romantic movies," he said caressing her  
face

"I also like action movies" said Lisa protesting

"But I love to see you cry at the end of those romantic movies" he said and  
gave her a tender kiss on the mouth

"You also cry sometimes," she said as she felt that her feet were leaving the  
floor

"But that's a secret between you and me only" he said and kissed her again  
They sat on the bed and Lisa put in first the movie that she had chosen. They  
put the tray in the middle of the bed and sat holding each other to watch the  
movie, one of those old and romantic movies that Lisa loved

Karl had his nose in Lisa's hair and she was cuddled against him holding him  
tight. The movie was about to end when Karl noticed that she was shaking a  
little, he smile to himself and moved so he could take Lisa's face in his  
hands

"Lizie" he said tenderly and Lisa made a sob and wiped her tears "Honey" said  
Karl sweetly and ordered Lisa's hair and wiped the rest of her tears

"I can't believe that I'm crying," said Lisa sitting straight and trying to  
stop crying

"It's ok honey, there's nothing to be ashamed of, besides you look very pretty  
when you cry" said Karl caressing Lisa's face

"You can't say that I look pretty when I cry, my nose turns red and my eyes  
swell up, I look awful when I cry"

"That's a lie, you have the most beautiful red nose and puffy eyes that I have  
ever seen" said Karl and kissed her on the forehead and she held him

"I love you," said Karl holding her tight

"I love you too" said Lisa cuddling next to him

When Lisa's movie finished they continued watching Karl's movie, but since it  
was night and it was colder they got under the sheets and cuddled together to  
watch the movie.

Karl was so caught up in the movie that he didn't noticed that Lisa had fallen  
asleep and only when the movie was over he realized that she was sleeping  
holding him, with a smile in her face. He also smiled and turned off the TV in  
silence and cuddled next to her. Karl felt that his heart wouldn't fit in his  
chest because of how happy he was. The fact of being there with Lisa, of having  
her in his arms, of smelling her perfume, of seeing that she seemed as happy as  
he was, made him the most happy man in the world. So he stayed there watching  
Lisa's face, saving in his memory every single detail of her face until he fell  
asleep holding Lisa in his arms.

To be continued…………..

Author's Note: I know that so far, I'm just to center on Riber and Lisa but I promise that thing will get more interesting ahead, but I feel that it's necessary to show their relationship. I'll be waiting reviews please!


	5. Chapter 5

Can a second chance change it all?

Chapter 5

Everything I do I do it for you

Author: Jo  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech or Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man)  
To: to K71 for been my beta now (thank you so much, specially for check this one), for all the members of the forum and of course to Carla

Lisa woke up, but keep her eyes closed, for some reason she felt so secure, so safe and warm this morning, like she haven't feel in years, and then a smell was all that she needed to understand why she felt that way.

It was Karl's perfume, it was his embrace what makes her feel so safe and happy, then she remember that she fall sleep holding him, in the middle of the movie that he has rent.

She hold him a little bit more tight and slowly rise her head to check out how late it was and if Karl was sleeping too, by the time that she raised her head enough to look at him, she found Karl's eyes looking at her

"Good morning sleeping beauty" he said with smile

"What time is it?" ask Lisa with a sleepy voice and with her eyes barely open

"Don't know, but probably late in the morning" answer Karl

"I fell sleep" said Lisa trying to remove her hair from her face

"Yeah and in the middle of my movie" said Karl with a hurt voice

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realized"

"Yeah, sure, I watched all your movie and you fall sleep at the middle of mine"

"I'm so sorry I'll promise that I'll watch the movie again" said Lisa with a guilty voice, but Karl only look at her with a frown

"I'll promise I'll make up to you" she said and gave him a kiss in his cheek

"You better be" he said and hold her

"It's been so much time since the last time that I sleep until late" she said closing her eyes and resting her head in his chest

"I guess that you have a pretty busy life"

"More than what you can imagine, and beside work was all that I have" she said with a sad voice

"You have me now" he said kissing her in the forehead

"And that's all that I need" Lisa said looking at him in the eyes, Karl also look at her in the eyes and they just stood There looking at each other, telling to each other how much they love each other with no words.

Suddenly Karl broke the silence "I forgot, your cell phone rang early in the morning" he said

"My cell phone" said Lisa jumping out of bed to reach the phone "Why don't you wake me up?"

"Because it only rang once I figure it out that if it was something important they call again" he said seating on the bed

"Probably" said Lisa more to her self than for Karl and check her cell phone. She only has two unread text messages in her mailbox, so she open her cell phone and check the messages.

The first one was set at 05.00 am and it was from Roy

"_Come back soon! We need you, your replacement can't distinguish an asteroid form a battle pod, she has made us do 4 emergency flights for nothing!. Please come back, I miss you, I need you, I want you!"_

Lisa fished to read the message and smile, she can imagine how pissed off Roy should have been to send her a message at that time

Then she read the other message and it was from Roy too, and it was send it to at 05.08 am

"I forgot something, is my clothes transferring my charmed to your boyfriend? Have fun :) and you know what I mean. I've got the feeling that someone will have a big smile on Monday and it wasn't be me or Claudia, thanks to your replacement (, sorry for the late message hope I haven't interrupt something"

Lisa smile wider when she finished of read Roy's message, Roy always have been some kind of over protective friend, and even when they don't show it too much in public they loved each other very much, and she was very happy that her friend was happy for her.

"It was something important?" ask Karl

"No, it was just Roy, joking" said Lisa smiling and leaving her cell phone in her coffee table

"He is the one that borrowed me the clothes right?" ask Karl

"Yes, he is one of my closes friend, and he is the boyfriend of my best friend"

"Claudia?" ask Karl smiling

"Yes, we are friends practically since I finish academy"

"I would like to meet them"

"Sure, it would be nice, we must go out some time, like in a double date"

"Yes, I would love to meet the people that has take care of you when I wasn't there"

"Karl" said Lisa a little sad

"It's just that I want to meet your friends, see how you lived all this time"

"There's not to much to see, but my friends are great, I'm sure that you are going to love them"

"If you love them, then I would love them" said Karl smiling and kiss her.

They stood in bed for a while, until finally Karl get up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, Lisa stood in bed until he left the bathroom and then she take a shower.

They cook together lunch, between Karl's jokes about how complicated Lisa was trying to cook, they eat and finally they leave Lisa's house and went to the park to buy some ice cream as a dissert.

They bought the ice cream and seat in a branch to share what they have bought and to talk for a while, when they finished the ice cream they hold hands and start to walk, they had walk a few steps when they stop at the park section where some kids were playing. They look into each other's eyes and kiss

"You know, I hope that some day I'll have one of those" said Karl holding Lisa from behind making her smile

"It would be nice" she said and rest her head in his chest "there's no one else whom I would like to start a family" said Lisa

"Me neither" said Karl and kiss her in the corner of her forehead, they look at the kids that were playing for a few moments and then they start to walk again, but a kid come running into their direction and crush against Karl making him step back and hit his hurt shoulder against a tree

"Karl" said Lisa worried

"I'm fine" said Karl hiding his pain and then he look at the boy "How about you little fellow are you ok?" he ask

"Yes I am, and you mister?" ask the little boy embarrassed

"I'm fine" said Karl

"Charlie, you need to be more carefully honey, you could have crush against the tree and get hurt" said Lisa walking next to the boy, that was the son of one of the bridge assistance operators

"I know" said the boy looking at the ground

"Where's your mom?" ask Lisa but the kid that was chasing Charlie arrived to the place and took Charlie's arm

"Gotcha" said the kid

"That's not true I was talking with aunt Lisa" said Charlie

"it's true now is your turn to chase" said the kid

"No is not" reply Charlie

"Yes it is"

"No is not"

"Hey Kids, kids" said Karl making the kids look at him in silence "why don't you two start to run and I'll chase you two, the first one that I caught will be the one that will chase" said Karl with a smile

"Yeah!" said the two kids and start to run immediately. Karl runs after them after a few moments. Lisa looks at him with a sweet smile, Karl catches Charlie first and then Charlie start to chase the other Kid and Karl walked back to Lisa

"Hey, those kids run faster than what they should" said Karl trying to recover his breath

"You are so amazing" said Lisa holding him "I love you" she said and kiss him

"I think that I should chase kids more often" said Karl when they break the sweet kiss and start to walk to Lisa's home holding each other.

Karl entered to the bathroom, since he has come back form the park; he has felt pain in his shoulder. Now he was looking at it in the mirror and has cheek that it was bleeding, he tried to treat it him self and after about 10 attempts he admitted that he need Lisa's help, he decided to try to cure it him self one more time and finally open shyly the bathroom door and call Lisa's name

"Lisa" said Karl from the bathroom door and after a few seconds Lisa appear in the bedroom

"Yes" said Lisa and when she saw Karl with his shirt open and his torso uncovered she froze and felt that she was starting to flush

"I, I have troubles with my wound and … well.. I need your help"

"Oh.. sure" said Lisa and after a few seconds she came closer to him "What happen?"

"It's bleeding in the back of my shoulder and I can't bandage it"

"Maybe we should go to the infirmary," said Lisa avoiding look at Karl's eyes

"Is not necessary, I just need to bandage it, well your help to do it," said Karl a little bit ashamed too

"Ok, but the light of the bathroom is better" said Lisa

"Yes, true" said Karl confused and entered the bathroom fallowed by Lisa, she took a bottle with iodine and a gauze to clean Karl's wound first

"Well" said Lisa looking at Karl shyly waiting for him to take his shirt off

"Well" said Karl looking at Lisa

"Your shirt" said Lisa looking at the ground

"Oh, sure my shirt" said Karl and flush and then slowly slip his shirt until his elbows, action that was followed by Lisa move by move, she look at him by the corner of her eyes and she felt how her heart beat faster with every inch that the shirt slip

"Now I'm ready" said Karl with a smile when his shirt stops in his elbows

Lisa clear her throat "Good" she finally was able to said and wet the gauze with the iodine and when she was about to leave the bottle over the washstand, the bottle almost fell to the floor, making Lisa more nervous and making Karl smile a little. Lisa came closer to Karl again and raised her hand to cure his wound and the way that her hands were shaking was evident for Karl

"I can't believe that I'm this nervous, is not like I haven't see you…. " Said Lisa and bend her head down to avoid looking at Karl

"Naked before?" said Karl in a rush

"With out your shirt" said Lisa embarrassed and then she look at Karl in the eyes, who was flushing, what make her flush too. Finally she came closer to him again until only a few inches separated them and she start to cure Karl's wound and for doing that she first rest one of her hands over Karl's naked chest making him gave a jump

"I'm sorry, cold hands" said Lisa with a nervous smile

"Always" said Karl smiling too and finally Lisa start to cure Karl's wound, then she bandaged it, when she finished she slip her hands across Karl's chest and rise shyly her eyes

"Ready" said Lisa with a soft voice, Karl only look at her in the eyes and came closer to her and gave her a kiss in her forehead

"Thanks" said Karl with his lips still on Lisa's forehead

"You have nothing to thank for" said Lisa and look again into Karl's eyes and she could see how his eyes sparkle and look at her with intensity, probably the same intensity with what she was looking at him, because all of a sudden they found them self kissing each other, the most passionately kiss that they had share.

Karl drag her closer to him with strength and she rest her hands again in his chest

They break the kiss when they need to breath again and they look into each other eyes briefly and they noticed the fire that sparkle in their eyes, after all there has been eight years since the last time that they were together

Lisa starts to kiss softly all the line of Karl's jaw, until she arrived to his ear and then she start to go down to his neck.

Karl at the same time has sink his nose in Lisa's hair that was around her neck and has start to kiss Lisa's neck while his hand travel across her back, making her feel like electric shivers travel across her spine making her breath more agitated

They start to kiss again and when they break the kiss Lisa found her self trapped between Karl and the washstand, in fact Karl was holding her with strength with his good arm and the distance between them was almost inexistent. Lisa slip softly and slowly Karl's shirt until she undo of it, then her hands followed Karl's arms contour and finally she stop in his neck and they kiss again, with desire, with the desire that has waited for to long to came out.

Karl started to kiss Lisa's neck again and his hands slip under Lisa's t-shirt by the corner of her waist and then moved to her back and from there start to raise leaving Lisa's skin exposed. The touch of Karl's hand over her naked skin make her more and more difficult to breath, Lisa start to play with Karl's hair that was behind his neck and kiss the spot where his neck merge with his shoulder and if it was possible she came even more closer to him and by doing that she noticed his anticipation, what make her gave a little nervous smile an then she followed kissing Karl's shoulder

Karl has start to move his hand to the upper part of Lisa's stomach and while he do that he continued leaving Lisa's skin exposed, then he move her hand to her back to the point that he could feel her bra, she sly her hands across Karl stomach while she continued kissing his shoulder

When Karl start to play with the hook of Lisa's bra, they both look into each other eyes and then start to kiss passionately again when suddenly the phone start to ring, after a few seconds they break the kiss and Lisa sink her head in Karl's shoulder and he rest his head in her forehead while he still hold her.

The phone keeps ringing until finally stops and Karl start to kiss Lisa's neck again but the phone start to ring again and he said "I think it would be better if you answer the phone"

"Mhhh" was all that Lisa's said while she kiss Karl's neck and then she start to walk away from him and they look in the eyes "It could be an emergency" said Lisa finally

"I could be" said Karla and Lisa start to walk to answer the phone but Karl hold her by her wrist and bring her closer to him and gave her a quick and passionately kiss, kiss that Lisa answer and before leave she bit his lower lip softly and walk away faster

Before she answer the phone, she fix her clothes and her hair and finally pick up the phone

"Commander Hayes" said Lisa with her voice still agitated

"Well, well I hope I haven't interrupted something" said the voice of Claudia at the other side of the phone

"Claudia?" said Lisa with a little upset tone

"Who else, how's your weekend going?" ask Claudia funny

"Not bad"

"How lucky some people are"

"Very funny, what do you want?" ask Lisa serious

"You see Lisa, we are finishing the relocation paperwork and I need to know if you already ask him"

"Well no, I haven't ask him yet"

"What do you mean with you haven't ask him yet? Lisa you should have ask him before he leave the hospital"

"I know is just that I don't want to force things"

"Lisa honey I know that there has been a long time since the last time that you were with him and that deal with formal issues is not your priority, but you have to ask him"

"I know Claudia, it's just that I don't want to force things, I don't want that he felt like I'm pressure him with questions"

"I understand you Lisa, but you have to, we need you to ask him"

"Fine, I'll ask him today" said Lisa upset

"Ok, so tomorrow you will give me the information"

"Fine, bye"

"Bye, oh one more thing"

"What?"

"Enjoy your afternoon for me would you, I have a shift of 12 hours"

"Very funny Claudia, very funny" Said Lisa now more relax and hung up. She remains seat in the couch, thinking in how will she ask Karl what she need to ask him, until finally it was Karl him self who took her out of her thoughts

"Who was it?" ask Karl when he appear in the Living room with his shirt on and his arm in his sling

"Ah, oh it was Claudia" said Lisa sitting straight

"Something happen? An emergency?"

"No, fortunately nothing happen"

"Then why you have that worried face?"

"Well you see, I need to ask you some questions" said Lisa and Karl seat in front of her looking at her with attention

"Tell me" said Karl

"You know that we are in war and that we lost officers in every fight that we have with the enemy and the soldiers that we have are barely enough to full fit the activities that must be done" said Lisa and made a pause "I, we, the RDF, need to know what your status is, if you will continue as an RDF officer or if you will retired, like most of your friends from Mars do" said Lisa and stay there looking at Karl in the eyes

"Wow, mm, do you need the answer right now?" said Karl moving in his couch

"I think so, You see, the dead date for the relocation is closer and we need to know what your military status is, if you will remain with the RDF or not"

Karl remain in silence for a while "You see Lisa, all these years that I was trapped in Mars, all those years gave me enough time to think in the decisions that I made in my life, in the mistakes that I made, in all the dreams that I have, all those years made my ideals more stronger" said Karl and remain in silence again

"I know very well the ideals that you have on Earth and I understand perfectly well your decision, I know that you leave Earth because of the war and I understand that you want to remain away from it" said Lisa and look at the ground in this occasion "It's perfectly understandable that you want to quit" said Lisa with a bittersweet smile

"Certainly the peace is one of my ideals and it was because of the war that I leave Earth, because then I wasn't ready for war and certainly I'm not ready for war now" said Karl bend down a little more close to Lisa, resting his right hand in her leg "I think I'll never be ready for war" said Karl with a lost voice

"Non of us is" said Lisa with a soft voice

"But I understood in those years that the search for peace requires some sacrifices, that want peace is not enough, that you need to search and fight for it, that I can't remain seat here waiting for things to solve by them self, that doesn't happen" said Karl with a smile, bittersweet one "I'm not the coward and selfish teenager that run away from Earth because he couldn't stand the war, I'm no longer the egocentric kid that was capable of leave you behind because he wasn't capable to face what he had to do, I'm not that kid anymore" said Karl with a broken voice, he clear his throat and continued

"Now I understand perfectly well my mistakes and I know that there are some sacrifices to do for the things that you love and for the one that you love, I know that you have to take aside the things that you want and the passion that you have, to fulfill the dreams, I know that things not always turn the way I want it to be and that I'll not always have what I want, but I won't stay seat here anymore, I'll not wait for things to be solved, I can't do that, not anymore" said Karl and look Lisa in the eyes again and he noticed immediately that she was there, listening him with all her attention, he realized of that and flush for a moment and then he search for Lisa's hand and hold it

"I'll not longer wait for the rest to do the work, not anymore, now I will left my personal preferences aside and I'll fight for what we all want, I let Karl Riber aside and fight for the rest Lisa, I'll sacrifice for the rest, I'll make the difference" said Karl and finally he gave a shy smile. Lisa remain there looking at him, she was charmed by his words, by his conviction on what he was saying, she could even feel how her heart was beating faster because of what he had said, because of how he had talk, with this strength, with this shine in is eyes

"That means that you…" said Lisa fearful

"Yes Lizie, that means that I'll remain in the RDF, that I'll continue been a soldier and that now I'll fight to reach peace, sometimes weapons are necessary to obtain peace and to maintain it, this time I'll not run away from my responsibilities, not like the immature teenager that I was once, this time I'll face my responsibilities, like the man that I am now, because now is not about do what I want to do, is about do what it's need to be done, what must to be done, about what's right, I can't pretend to do what I want always, now I'll do what's necessary to accomplish and make my ideals true" said Karl and holds Lisa's hand stronger "This time I'll not let you down Lisa" he said and kiss the back of Lisa's hand

"You never have" said Lisa smiling and finally she hold him "you have no idea of how happy makes me the fact that you have decided to remain with the RDF"

"I know" said Karl holding her too, after they staid holding each other for a while Karl took Lisa's face in his hands and noticed that she has tears in her eyes

"Why are you crying for?" ask Karl sweetly

"For noting, I'm just happy" said Lisa and clean her tears "I'm so happy because your are here with me, because we are finally together, because all my dreams are becoming true" said Lisa and smile

"I know" said Karl smiling too

"I love you" said Lisa softly and then she kisses Karl.

When they break the kiss they remain in the couch hold to each other until Lisa began to fall asleep in Karl's arm, fact that Karl noticed immediately and he kissed her in the forehead to wake her up. Then he helps her to make her bed in her couch and wait until she fall sleep in the couch and then went to the bedroom.

He think in his decision while he was falling sleep, he had took that decision while ago, just like he has said to her, he had think in that many lonely nights in Mars, and he has make de decision of fight for what he want, of been part of the solution.

But now that he was sure that there was a war going on, and a war of gigantic proportions with enemies that no one knows, that decision scares him, and worried him, what can he do to made the difference? What he can do to prove to Lisa that he was ready to fight for what he wants? To impress her? He certainly won't be in the battle, he wasn't ready for that and he will never be capable to pull the trigger against any other living been, no matter if it wasn't human. So what can he do? What he will do? He asks to him self while his eyes were closing. And just before fall asleep he realize that no matter what he do, all that we was about to do he will do it for Lisa, like he has always done since the moment that he has seen her, from the moment that he has fall completely in love with her.

To be continued…

Author's note: I'm waiting for your opinion people, about the relationship between Lisa and Karl

This is the end of pure Lisa/Karl love, now the romantic triangle will began, now I finally will have the pleasure of write a jealous Rick, now he will live all that Lisa suffer in the real Robotech. So please stay tune


	6. Chapter 6

Can a Second Chance Change It All?  
Chapter 6  
Some One Like You

Lisa left her home after sharing her breakfast with Karl. She felt so empty when she left home, all that she wanted to do was stay there cuddling with Karl all day. But all good things have an end and for her the early shift Monday was the end to her dream weekend with Karl.

So there she was, about to enter the bridge, trying to hide the big smile that she had because, on her way to the bridge, she had remembered all that she and Karl had done on the weekend, especially what had happened in her bathroom. Just the memory made her flush and smile wider. But now she had to be the cool and professional Lisa that everyone was used to seeing. But she just couldn't help it, she couldn't help but smile and she was happy for that. There had been so much time since the last time that she had felt so happy, so free, so … in love.

She made a serious face and entered the Bridge, pulling up the neck of her uniform jacket and straightening the entire uniform. Finally she entered; the Captain wasn't there, only the Trio and Claudia. They turned in her direction immediately, and that was as long as her serious face lasted. Her smile appeared again on her face at the same time that she said hello to the girls.

"Well, well look who is here," said Claudia, moving away from her screen and crossing her arms.

"Hi Claudia," said Lisa, a little embarrassed but smiling to her as she came closer to her own station.

"Can I ask how your weekend was?" asked Claudia smiling.

"Fine," said Lisa smiling, "actually it was great," she added with a dreamy voice.

"By your face it seems that it was more than great. What do you think girls?" said Claudia, looking at the girls.

"It seems so. Come on Lisa, tell us all the details," said Kim.

"Yes please tell us. How is he? Is he handsome? Did he kiss good?" asked Sammie walking next to Lisa, looking at her with expectation.

"Sammie, don't be so curios," said Vanessa who was the only one who was still at her station.

"Come on V, you want to know, too," said Sammie to Vanessa and then turned to Lisa again, "Come on Lisa, you know that you can trust us," said Sammie crossing her hands as if she were praying.

"Ok, ok," said Lisa smiling, "Yes, he is handsome, and yes he is a very good kisser and that's all that you are going to know," said Lisa and looked serious again.

"But Lisa," protested Kim.

"That's all, now back to your station," said Lisa seriously. The girls were about to protest but Lisa replied before they could even say anything, "I want a report of all that happened while I wasn't here."

"Yes Lisa," said the trio at the same time and they walked back to their stations. Claudia returned to hers too, and then walked back to Lisa's with some papers in her hands.

"Here's a preliminary report," said Claudia, giving Lisa the papers, but she didn't go back to her station.

"Thanks," said Lisa and started to read the papers and while she did that, she could feel that all eyes were on her. Then she understood the reason when she read the promotion page.

"I just can't believe it," said Lisa when she read the last page "Well this is… is," said Lisa with amazement and all the girls looked at each other waiting for Lisa's explosion.

"This is.. I guess that things happened sooner than what I expected," said Lisa more to herself than to the girls. She wasn't angry but she wasn't happy either.

The girls looked at each other surprised that Lisa hadn't made a storm when she found out that Hunter had been promoted to lieutenant and that he was now squadron leader. They just couldn't believe it.

"Did you read the last page?" asked Claudia.

"Yes, I read the entire report," said Lisa leaving the papers aside at her station.

"Did you read that Hunter was promoted and now he is team leader?" asked Kim.

"Yes."

"And your aren't going to say anything?" asked Claudia.

"What can I say?" said Lisa a little confused.

"That they are insane? That they just couldn't have made him team leader" said Sammie.

"Well I think that they rushed it a little, that maybe he is not ready to be a team leader so soon, but I also believe that he is a good soldier; if he were a little bit more disciplined he would be among the best. I guess that it was just matter of time until he was promoted, so truly it doesn't surprised me that much," said Lisa seriously.

"Lisa is that really you?" asked Claudia walking closer to her.

"Why does that surprise you so much?" asked Lisa a little embarrassed.

"Because you are always are fighting with him. We thought that the idea of having him as a team leader would make you have a stroke," said Kim.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't have promoted him so soon, but it's not my decision to see who is promoted and who isn't," said Lisa, remaining in silence for a while.

"Now we have more important things to deal with than Hunter's promotion," said Lisa, but the girls were still waiting for her to explode.

"Well I think that Lisa is right, after all we have to keep an eye on the enemy," said Vanessa and turned back to her screen.

"But Lisa, if you had trouble with him while he was just a corporal, how will you handle him now that he is a team leader?" asked Sammie.

"Don't worry about that Sam, I'll handle him", said Lisa with confidence and then turned to her station, forcing the girls to return to theirs.

A few moments past until Lisa came closer to Claudia's station.  
"Claudia, can you explain these new codes to me?" asked Lisa, standing next to Claudia and pointing to a list of codes.

"Sure, they are the new engineering codes," said Claudia pointing the codes and getting closer to Lisa. "They are for activating the new protocols of cooling the engi.." Claudia was saying, but suddenly she became silent and before Lisa could notice Claudia pulled her turtle neck down, leaving Lisa's neck uncovered and then she covered her mouth with her hand acting surprised.

Lisa reacted immediately and pulled up her turtleneck and covered her neck with both of her hands and stepped back.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Claudia pointing to Lisa's neck with an expression between amused and shocked.

"What is what?" said Lisa taking another step back and trying to cover her neck as she felt her face turning red.

"Oh for Christ sake Lisa, you have a hicky on your neck," said Claudia pointing to Lisa's neck with her eyes wide open.

"Claudia," said Lisa almost in panic, afraid that the other girls had heard her.

"Oh come on Lisa, I can't believe it," said Claudia and started to laugh.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Lisa trying to sound serious.

"It seems that your weekend definitely was more than great," said Claudia and hit Lisa softly on the shoulder and winked at her.

"Claudia," Lisa whispered in protest.

"Come on Lisa, you know that you can tell anything to Aunt Claudia," said Claudia, standing next to Lisa.

"There's nothing to tell," said Lisa looking at her with challenging eyes

"Of course there are things to tell. Come on Lisa, I tell you everything," said Claudia begging.

"Truly, there's nothing to tell."

"Then are you going to tell me that nothing…." said Claudia in a whisper.

"Nothing happened, Claudia," said Lisa seriously.

"Nothing? Nothing at all?" asked Claudia in disbelief.

"Truly Claudia, nothing happen."

"Oh yeah, and now you are going to tell me that, that," said Claudia, pulling Lisa's turtle neck down again "appeared from nowhere."  
"Claudia," said Lisa ashamed.

"Lisa," said Claudia looking Lisa's neck closer.

"Claudia stop it, the girls are going to notice," said Lisa in a desperate whisper.

"Then you are going to tell me everything," said Claudia following Lisa back to her station.

"No, stop it," said Lisa stepping back, facing Claudia.

"Lisa," said Claudia looking at her with a devilish sparkle in her eyes.

"Claudia," said Lisa. As if she were afraid of Claudia she stepped back, pinning herself against her station. All of a sudden all the alarms started to ring.

"What happened?" asked Sammie.

"See what you did?" said Lisa, now completely serious.

"As if with that you are going to escape from telling me the truth," said Claudia with a winning smile.

"Claudia," said Lisa now a little upset; now she was back on the job and there was no time for jokes.

"I detect enemy pods coming," said Vanessa, and that was all that was required to get everybody back to their job and become the professional women that they were.

Rick was walking to his apartment, still in disbelief of the Titanium Medal for Distinguished Services pinned to his jacket. He truly couldn't believe that he had received that medal. He still didn't understand why he had received that medal but he was really happy for it, even when he thought that many other soldiers had done amazing things in that battle. He didn't want to think about that too much, as he looked at the medal glowing on his chest he had the feeling that he was important some how.  
But suddenly Roy took him out of his thoughts.

"Hey little Bro, come over here," said Roy standing at the entrance of his quarters.

"Hi Roy," said Rick as he entered Roy's quarters, "wasn't that a beautiful ceremony?" asked Rick still smiling.

"Yes it was," said Roy while he sat in front his computer.

"I mean all the important people were there," said Rick.

"Hey it was the Titanium Medal after all, you should be happy, not too many people win that medal. It took me several battles to win mine," said Roy and winked at Rick.

"But I still don't understand why I won mine," said Rick confused, with a dreamy expression.

"A certain rescue a few days ago on Mars. Does that mean anything to you?"

"You mean that I got this medal for rescuing Commander Hayes? I truly don't think so Roy," said Rick now more awake.

"Why not? You rescued her and Lieutenant Riber, and you did it very well."

"Yeah, but you know that in order to win this medal I have to be highly recommended by my team leader and some other high rank officer, and I truly doubt that Commander Hayes could ever write something good about me," said Rick in sarcastic tone.

Roy's smile vanished. "You don't know her, that's why you are saying that."

"Come on Roy, you know that she and I don't get along very well."

"Yes, but you have some guilt in that, too."

"Maybe, but she is the one that..." Rick was saying but he remained in silence when he saw that Roy's face was becoming more serious.

"I've got another surprise for you," said Roy, resuming his good humor after some moments of awkward silence.

"What is it?" asked Rick curiously.

"Here," said Roy, opening a drawer of his desk, "this is yours too" he said as he threw a small box to Rick.

"What is this?" asked Rick when he opened the small box.

"Your lieutenant's bars. Congratulations," said Roy, smiling this time.

"Lieutenant? Me?" asked Rick with surprise.

"Yes my friend, lieutenant," said Roy.

"I can't believe it," said Rick, looking at the box again. He didn't know if he should be happy or not. For one side he was happy being promoted despite the fact he didn't admit it was important to him. On the other hand, it also meant that there were other obligations for him, more important ones and that scared him.

"Well believe it, because now you are Lieutenant Hunter, leader of the Vermillion team and you will have two men under your command," Roy said smiling, but his smile vanished as soon as he saw Rick's face.

"Two men? Under my command?" asked Rick almost terrified.

"Yes," said Roy cautiously.

"But Roy, I'm just 19, how can I have two men's lives in my hands, under my command?" asked Rick nervously, obviously scared.

"Rick it's a big responsibility, but command wouldn't name you team leader if they didn't think you were ready for it. Plus, I believe that you are ready for it."

"But Roy how can you say that? Less than a year ago I was performing acrobatic flying in the sky, I'm not ready to be a team leader. I'm not ready to have other people's lives in my hands," said Rick while he was pacing across Roy's quarters like a desperate dog.

"You have already had people's lives in your hands and you have done fine. Judging by that medal, more than fine," said Roy pointing to Rick's Titanium Medal.

"That was different," said Rick with disdain.

"In what way?" asked Roy seriously and a little pissed off.

"Because it was just one time. Now these two men's lives will be in my hands all the time. I will have to take care of them all the time when I'm out there flying," said Rick pointing to one of the windows of Roy's quarters from where you could see the stars.

"And what? The fact that you have to take care of them wouldn't give you enough time to be a hero? To sparkle individually?" asked Roy with suspiciousness.

"Of course not!" said Rick, upset "because if anything happens to them it will be my responsibility, it will be my fault."

"It happens to all the team leaders, but at some point you learn to live with it, you can't save them all Rick."

"Are you telling me that you don't feel anything when some member of your crew dies?" asked Rick, looking at Roy straight in his eyes.

"How can you say that! Of course I feel guilty and I always feel that there was something that I should have done to save them. But I get up the next day and climb into my VT and fight my fights, because I get nothing by crying over it. Because it's better for everybody that I'm outside flying than here crying for some team member," said Roy seriously.

"Well I'm not ready for that."

"Yes you are, it's just that you are scared," said Roy and this time he was the one who was looking at Rick.

"No I'm not. All that I'm going to do as a team leader is to get these two men killed. I'll do a better job remaining just a team member."  
"That's easy for you, isn't it?" said Roy and crossed his arms, "all you want to do is the easy job."

"You know me better than that. Besides, being outside fighting the enemy is not what I call the easy job," said Rick sarcastically.

"But it's easier than being a team leader, and all that you are doing Rick is avoiding your responsibilities."

"You are the one who is adding more responsibilities to me."

"Because I know that you are capable of accomplishing them, because I have faith in you."

"Well maybe you are wrong."

"It seems that I am," said Roy with deception in his voice and turned his back to Rick.

"So this means that you will send a recommendation to make me a team member again?" asked Rick after a few moments of tense silence.

"No," said Roy turning to him, "you have to learn to handle your responsibilities. You are not a kid anymore, you are a soldier and a pilot now," said Roy seriously. After seeing Rick's expression, he added, "now change that face of a 3 year old kid who is about to make an scene. Your team members are about to arrive and it's not good that they see their leader with that face."

"But Roy…." Rick was about to protest, but Roy interrupted him.

"No buts Rick. And don't disappoint me; don't disappoint all the people that believe in you. You have the skills that are necessary in you, you just need to have more faith in yourself," said Roy and by the time that he had finished someone knocked on the door.

When the door was opened and Rick saw his new team members, he thought that they were just two kids that had just finished high school, but then again he wasn't too much older. Finally he accepted the fact that he would be a team leader and that he would have to baby-sit them.

Rick truly wished that Roy had understood why he didn't want to be a team leader, but he hadn't. Roy had thought that he was avoiding his responsibilities and that he was scared. Maybe he was right about the last part, but Roy was also asking too much of him.  
After his new team members introduced themselves, they left Roy's apartment and Rick went with them to Minmei's Birthday party. A party that ended abruptly when the sirens started to ring.

When the attack was over and everything was in order, Lisa as usual checked everything twice until finally the girls practically kick her off the bridge. Lisa was waiting for the elevator to take her away from the bridge area but all the elevators were busy taking pilots and officers to the infirmary or back from the runways to the their quarters, so she took one of the elevators that was going to the infirmary with a group of young pilots. From there she would walk to the exit of the military zone and to the residential zone where her apartment was.

When a group of pilots left the elevator in the corporals barracks area she was alone in the elevator and the doors were about to close when a hand stopped the doors from closing, making her react and push the button to maintain the doors open.

"Thanks," said a male voice.

"Your welcome," answered Lisa.

"Commander," said Rick when he entered the elevator, a little bit surprised.

"Lieutenant," answered Lisa politely "What brings you here, are you hurt?" asked Lisa with normal concern.

"No, I'm fine I'm just going to check on Corporal Dixon," answered Rick, scratching his head. Lisa only smiled. Rick stood still at Lisa's side, serious until finally Lisa spoke.

"Congratulations for your promotion and for your medal," said Lisa giving him a polite smile.

"Eh, thanks," said Rick a little confused, he couldn't believe that she was congratulating him for his promotion when just minutes ago they were fighting. In fact, he himself didn't feel very happy about his promotion.

"Really Hunter, congratulations."

"Well I think I have to thank you for the medal," said Rick thinking that he had won the medal for saving her.

"Of course not, you earned it and no one will question that," said Lisa honestly, making Rick bend down his head as if he was somehow ashamed.

He felt that a huge responsibility now lay over his shoulders, a responsibility that he wasn't sure that he could handle and that made him feel overwhelmed.

"Are you ok Lieutenant?" asked Lisa when she noticed the worried face of Rick.

"Yes I'm fine. Why do you ask?" asked Rick, trying to sound relaxed.

"I don't know, you have a worried face," said Lisa.

"I'm just…. I'm fine," said Rick avoiding her. Even when he felt that he needed to share with someone this weird feeling that he was having, he didn't have the confidence to tell her how he felt about his promotion. In fact, he felt that if Roy hadn't understood him, then there was no way that Commander Hayes would understand him.  
Lisa only looked at him, knowing exactly why he was wearing his worried face. She only looked at the floor and smiled.

"You will do fine as a team leader," said Lisa without looking at him, because she knew that if she looked at him he would feel uncomfortable.

"Pardon me?" said Rick; taken off guard and not sure if he had heard what he thought he had heard.

"I said that you will do fine as a team leader, you're not a bad soldier," said Lisa and then looked at him quickly.

"You really believe that?" asked Rick without even noticing, as if his mouth had spoken by itself.

"Yes," said Lisa and then she looked at him with a smile, "I think that you are a good soldier and that …" Lisa was saying, but her phone started to ring. She took her cell phone in her hands and opened it. It was a text message, so she opened her mailbox.

"_I miss you, come back soon, your house feels so empty without you.  
Love you. Karl "_

Lisa finished reading the message and a sweet smile crossed over her face; it was like she was walking on clouds.

Rick noticed immediately how Lisa's face had changed and he was very curious about what the message had said to make her face change that way, from her neutral face to this glowing face. After a few moments he finally spoke, "You were saying?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. I was saying that you are not a bad soldier. You have some trouble with authority but you are not bad," said Lisa smiling.

"Well that… I.." Rick was saying all tense, but he was out of words and Lisa noticed.

"Relax Hunter, you'll do fine. For some reason I, like your other superior officers, believe that you will do a good job as team leader. I do believe in you," Lisa said smiling. Then she gave a step towards the elevator door as the elevator stopped and the doors opened on the floor that had been marked by Lisa. "You just have to follow my orders and not argue with me and you will do great," said Lisa with a wider smile and walked outside the elevator. Then she turned in Rick's direction. "Enjoy your promotion Hunter. Celebrate; you become lieutenant only once," Lisa said as she walked away from him, leaving Rick with a strange feeling in his heart. He was surprised by her behavior, for some reason he had thought that she would be completely pissed off by his promotion. But there she was, telling him that she believed in him, that he would do a good job, even when he himself wasn't so sure about that. Even when he had all these questions about it, even when he didn't feel ready for the assignment. But there she was, she believed in him and that made him feel secure for some reason. If she believed in him then maybe he could make a difference, maybe his promotion wasn't a mistake and there was something in him that could be useful.

Maybe he could become a good team leader, Rick said to himself and smiled. Now he felt so much more relaxed with his promotion. Maybe he would even make peace with Roy and go out to celebrate his promotion with him. But the word 'celebrate' kept sounding in his head. Why did he have the feeling that he was forgetting something?  
And then he remembered Minmei's birthday party; he had left the party and promised her that he would return to give her a present. A present that he didn't have. Rick left the elevator at full speed, and went downtown to try to find an open store to buy Minmei her present and then go to her place to give it to her.

Lisa arrived at her house and found Karl reading in the living room. As soon as she opened the door Karl stood up from the couch and walked in her direction.

"Hi," said Lisa, walking next to him until they were face to face.

"Hi," he said and they looked into each other eyes and smiled. Then they shared a tender kiss.

"Did you read my message?" asked Karl, touching his nose with hers.

"Yes," she said and smiled.

"I really missed you," said Karl, about to kiss her again.

"I missed you, too," said Lisa and they kissed again.

"I made dinner," said Karl after they broke the kiss.

"Great, I'm starving," said Lisa.

"Then let's go to the kitchen," said Karl as he took Lisa's hand and they started to walk to the kitchen.

They had dinner fast, talking most of the time about the food itself.  
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," said Karl when they were walking back to the living room, "I talked with my physical therapist today."

"Really?" said Lisa and sat looking at Karl.

"Yes and he said that tomorrow we can start the sessions," said Karl smiling and sitting next to her.

"That's great," said Lisa smiling and cuddling next to him.

"Yes, that means that very soon I won't need this sling," said Karl pointing to his arm.

"Well I have to admit that you look kinda sexy with that," said Lisa looking at him with a sexy yet naïve look.

"If you are going to look at me with those eyes every time I wear this, I think I won't need the therapy," said Karl getting closer to her.

"But then again you couldn't move one arm," said Lisa, this time with a sexy evilness in her eyes.

"Are you sure?" asked Karl, looking at her with a sparkle in his eyes and getting closer to her. They looked at each other's eyes and started to get closer and closer. When he was about to kiss her, he moved his face and touched his nose with her tenderly and then he gave her a sweet kiss near her mouth, just like they did years ago.

"I love you," said Lisa with a dreamy voice.

"I love you, too," said Karl and held her, "how was your day?" he asked after a few minutes. He had read her worried look in the same moment that she had entered the house.

"After all, I guess it was fine," said Lisa with not too much enthusiasm.

"I heard the sirens, and I saw the explosions, we were under attack, right?"

"Yes, under a big attack."

"And if you are here then I guess that we are ok."

"For the moment," said Lisa with concern.

"Why?" asked Karl, interested.

"Because they retreated, we didn't defeat them."

"But if they retreated then maybe it was because they saw the defeat coming."

"No Karl, they were cleaning the floor with us, they were about to break our last external defense perimeter when they retreated," said Lisa and she sat up straight. She was upset by that move from the enemy and she was concerned.

"But that makes no sense."

"It doesn't and that's what worries me the most, we don't know what we are facing."

"Maybe they had a reason to retreat that you are not seeing," said Karl trying to calm her, but it didn't work.

"I checked every angle that I could. I checked over and over their strategy before leaving the bridge, and I still don't get it."

Karl made a pause before talking, "I know you'll figure it out. Maybe not now but I'm sure that you'll do it," he said and kissed her on the forehead in way to show how much he believed in her.

"I hope so," said Lisa, closing her eyes when he kissed her.

"I know you do," said Karl and looked at her in the eyes and smiled, "in the mean time, why don't we go out to buy an ice cream."

"You know that sounds like a great idea."

"Because it is," he said and stood up, offering his good arm to help her to stand up.

"I'll go change my clothes," said Lisa and was about to walk to her bedroom but Karl held her.

"No, if you go change your clothes, we will never leave the house."

"But.."

"No buts, besides you look gorgeous in that uniform," he said smiling at her. She looked at him in disbelief but finally smiled at him and they started to walk out of her house.

They were walking in the park, each of them with an ice cream, talking and laughing. After some steps they stopped. Lisa held Karl's ice cream and they kissed.

"Look over here, I think that the fountain should be turned on," said Lisa and she walked in the direction of the Macross fountain.

"Wait," said Karl but a few steps later Lisa stopped and Karl saw the fountain. It was so beautiful; he walked next to Lisa and held her. "This is so beautiful."

"Yes it is," said Lisa and smiled.

"It's like magic," said Karl and held Lisa tight. They remained looking at the fountain until something else caught their attention; it was a robot, a photographer robot.

"What's that?" asked Karl funnily.

"It's robophotogapher or something like that," said Lisa, looking at the robot.

"Doctor Lang and his names for the robots. It reminds me of my little robot, the one that helped me with the tests on Mars," said Karl.

"Really?" said Lisa and turned to look at him.

"Yes," said Karl and made a pause before he smiled again. "You know we can have him take a picture of us."

"A picture?" said Lisa in disbelief, "Right now?"

"Yes, the fountain looks amazing."

"Karl, no, I look awful today, and I'm really tired," said Lisa.

"Come on, you look great."

"Karl," said Lisa and faked a sob, "another day, please."

Karl looked at her and started to get closer to her, "you are evil, you know?"

"Maybe," said Lisa with a naïve look, getting closer to him and putting her hands on his chest.

"Fine, another day," said Karl, avoiding her look, as if he was hurt.  
"You are so nice," said Lisa and kissed him on his cheek, "but you know what we can do?"

"What?"

"Make a wish and throw a coin in the fountain," said Lisa smiling.

"That sounds good."

"Yes," said Lisa and searched in her pockets and took two coins and offered one to Karl, "so, what are you going to ask?" asked Lisa.

"Mmmm, let me think," said Karl and remained in silence for a while, "I think all my wishes came true when I found you," he said honestly looking at her in the eyes.

"Mine too," said Lisa and she blushed a little.

"But we can also ask for world peace," said Karl smiling after a while.

"Yes, that's a good idea."

"Yes, world peace is always a good idea."

"Well in this case intergalactic peace," said Lisa smiling.

"Yes, so for intergalactic peace it will be?" asked Karl.

"Yes," said Lisa and they both turned their backs to the fountain, made the wish and threw the coins. Once that they had done that they got closer and closer.

"So, all your whishes came true when you found me?" asked Karl when he was only a few inches away from Lisa.

"Yes," said Lisa shyly holding him too.

"I love you so much," said Karl and started to kiss her, a very deep kiss.

"You know I shouldn't do this in public," said Lisa in a whisper when they broke the kiss.

"Why?" asked Karl, resting his head in her forehead.

"Because I'm the first officer and there's a protocol.." Lisa was saying, but Karl interrupted her.

"Screw protocol, we have a debt of kisses from 8 years," said Karl smiling.

"Yes, you are right," said Lisa and they kissed again. When they broke that kiss, they held hands again and started to walk back to Lisa's house.

Rick was walking back from Minmei's house with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. He was really happy, he had seen Minmei before her birthday was over and she was just fascinated with his birthday present. He knew that she would always remember him every time that she saw the medal. Maybe now he was only a few steps away from becoming her boyfriend- her official boyfriend. Nothing could make his day more happy, now that he had accepted his promotion and was at peace with becoming a team leader. This day that had begun well, then turned really bad had ended up being good after all. Now he only wanted to go to his bedroom and sleep. He was completely exhausted after the last battle. Then suddenly in the middle of the park he froze, he stopped violently and his first reaction was to hide behind a tree.

Once he was behind the tree, he looked carefully at the scene. There was commander Lisa Hayes and this guy, what was his name? Riber? He asked himself. They were standing in front of the Macross fountain, smiling, and then they threw a coin into the fountain. Rick moved his head while thinking that Lisa and this Riber looked like teenagers and suddenly his jaw dropped open, open as it could be. He remained behind the tree looking at the fountain with an expression of horror and surprise. "What was commander Hayes doing kissing that guy in public? In the middle of the park!" thought Rick when he was out of his astonishment. Then he saw them holding each other and then walking hand in hand. They walked a little then he stopped and kissed the back of Lisa's hand and they continued walking holding hands. She rested her head on his shoulder and they disappeared behind a big tree.

Rick remained behind the tree for some moments trying to assimilate the scene. He finally decided to get out from behind the tree and sit on a branch next to it where he sat and rested his elbows on his knees. He was upset by the situation; it was as if he was jealous and he didn't even a have reason to be. In fact, he found her a little bit disagreeable, to bossy and too picky for his taste, besides the fact that she was five years older than he was. So why was he upset by the fact that she was kissing Riber? After all, the commander was young and attractive. Of course she was attractive, you only had to look at her in her flight suit to realize that. And certainly she had all the right to have a life outside of work, but did it have to be with this guy? A guy that she recently met when she had rescued him on Mars, a guy that you could tell wasn't right for her. He looked dull, with no ideas, without the necessary strength to counteract hers. "But what the hell am I talking about?" he said to himself and hit himself in the head, "I think I'm delirious or something" he thought, but the idea wouldn't stop going around in his head. What could this stranger have that caught Commander Hayes attention so fast? She wasn't the type for a one night stand, so who was this guy? What was he doing on Mars? And what were his intentions with Commander Hayes? Rick asked himself. Then one name came to his head and he started to run. When he arrived at his destination, he started to knock on the door with strength until finally the door opened and a ruffled, half -asleep Roy appeared.

"Who the hell is it?" asked Roy, rubbing his eyes. When he finished, he saw Rick, who almost passed over Roy on his way in.

"Roy I need to talk with you."

"What is it? And please don't tell me that it's about your promotion," said Roy a little upset.

"It has nothing to do with that."

"And also please don't tell me that it has something to do with Minmei," said Roy scratching his head and yawning.

"Minmei? Why would it have to do with her?" asked Rick surprised.

"Because if you are wearing that face and bothering me at 2:00 am and if it's not about your promotion then it has to be because of her."  
"It's not about her and I'm sorry to bother you so late, but only you can answer my questions."

"Well if it's not about Minmei and I can help you with something, then there's no problem little bro," said Roy giving Rick a small slap on Rick's back as they started to walk to the kitchen.

"I'm really sorry that I woke you up, I imagine how tired you are."

"Just like any other pilot," said Roy as he stretched and turned the coffee maker on.

"But you are lucky that Claudia is not here, because if you had interrupted something, then you would be dead," said Roy smiling.

"I made sure that she wasn't here before coming," said Rick and he winked at Roy.

"You surprise me Hunter," said Roy and this time he hit Rick harder on the back.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"About Riber, Lieutenant Riber."

"What about him?" asked Roy a little nervously.

"What happened between him and Commander Hayes?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I saw them kissing," said Rick and Roy almost dropped the mugs that he had in his hands.

"I didn't know that they were dating."

"Oh come on Roy, don't play the fool with me, I know that you know something," said Rick a little pissed off, standing in front of Roy.

"Me? Why should I know something?"

"Because your are Claudia's boyfriend and she is the best friend of the Commander."

"That doesn't mean that I know things."

"Oh come on Roy," said Rick pissed off while Roy served the coffee in the mugs.

"And why do you want to know?" asked Roy with suspiciousness.  
"Because…" said Rick and he remained in silence, "Why did he want to know?" he asked himself.

"Why Rick?" asked Roy looking at him with the two mugs in his hands.

"I don't know, I just want to know, only for curiosity."

""And since when you are so curious?" asked Roy, raising and eyebrow.

"Listen Roy, you know me, you know that I won't be walking through the halls telling everybody what you tell me."

"It's not up to me to tell you what you want to know, you should ask those questions to Lisa," said Roy as he handed one mug to Rick.

"You know that I could never ask her this, that's why I'm asking you."

"I'm sorry Rick, I'm truly sorry," said Roy looking at Rick in the eyes.

"Roy brother, you know that I won't tell anybody, besides I thought that we had no secrets."

"We don't, you and I don't have secrets, but what you are asking me has nothing to do with me."

"You are talking as if it was the most dangerous secret. OK, however you want. If you prefer to be more loyal to her than me, fine" said Rick, leaving his mug on a table and walking to the exit. "Oh and Riber looked pretty good in the Playboy T-shirt that I gave you on your birthday," said Rick opening the door.

"Fine, fine, come back and take a seat," said Roy scratching his head "I had forgotten how annoying you can be," added Roy.

Rick only smiled, giving his back to Roy. He closed the door and started to walk to the small living room.

"But you have to promise me that you won't tell anybody about this."

"I swear," said Rick seriously.

"It's a long history and I don't know the details very well."

"I'm listening to you."

"Riber was Lisa's father's aide when she was a teenager. They became a couple then he left for Mars and they got engaged. The base was destroyed and everybody was presumed dead. That was more than 7 years ago, I guess that Lisa finding him again must be like a second chance."

"That explains why there were kissing," said Rick thoughtfully.

"Yes," said Roy drinking his coffee.

"But you told me that it was a long history, that wasn't long."

"Well, haven't you become a very curious guy?" said Roy and looked at Rick who was looking at him with a gigantic interrogation sign in his face.

"Lisa and Riber for what I know, were a couple for almost 2 years. He helped her a lot, supporting Lisa very much after her mother's death. A year after that he left for Mars and I believe that Admiral Hayes was furious because after that, Lisa entered the academy to have the chance to be reunited with Riber on Mars. Because she was one of the best, she had been authorized to travel to Mars after the end of her second year, but a few weeks after that the base was attacked and destroyed and everybody was declared dead. After that Lisa shut herself off emotionally and she hasn't dated anyone since then."

"Are you serious?" asked Rick with surprise.

"Of course I am. And when I say nobody, I mean it. Claudia and I have arranged some dates for her but it's always been a complete mess. She never forgot Riber, they were engaged and were about to get married when the base was attacked and all her dreams disappeared. I can only imagine what it meant for her see him again," said Roy who drank another sip of his coffee and remained looking at the mug while Rick watched the floor.

Rick had never thought he would hear that about Lisa. So that was her relationship with Riber. The only thing that he could think of was how much she must have loved him to wait for him almost 8 years, living off his memory. Now all the pieces began to take place in his head. That's why she was so desperate to save him, that's why she was so happy, that's why her attitude had changed and that's why she was kissing him in the middle of the park- because she had been in love with him for almost 10 years of her life.

Lisa… he had never even dared to imagine that she could love someone in that way, with so much intensity, with so much devotion. Just the idea of how much she loved Riber made him feel really small. He had always thought of her as someone cold, without feelings, whose only interest in life was her job. Now all that started to break down. She apparently had a life and a heart, only one that had been frozen all this time waiting for someone, for Riber. Then only one thought crossed his mind, the desire that one day one woman, it didn't matter If that woman was Minmei or not, loved him in the same way that Lisa loved Riber. That she would be capable of waiting for him in the same way that Lisa had waited for Riber. Rick wondered how it would feel for someone to love him in that way.

"Hey Rick, did a cat eat your tongue?" asked Roy after watching Rick for a long time, and when he saw Rick's face he could even hear what Rick was thinking.

"Rick!" said Roy a little louder and Rick looked at him.

After blinking a couple of times he said, "What?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"About how much she must love him, to wait for him all this time."

"I guess he is the love of her life."

"I never imagined that from her."

"Lisa is box full of surprises, you have no clue."

"I have always thought of her as someone with no feelings," said Rick and Roy made a grin.

"That's because you don't know her, because you made a picture of her in your head and you only see her as Commander Hayes."

"Maybe. You can deny that she is heartless, but you cannot blame me for thinking that she has no heart," said Rick without even thinking.

"You don't know her," said Roy with a hard voice.

"But I know how she works and her life is her job, and she's really bossy and picky at it. I mean she never saw a good thing in any officer, besides .." Rick was saying but he remained in silence when he saw Roy standing up with a very angry look on his face. He opened a drawer and took a file from it and threw it to Rick.

"You asked me earlier why you had won the Titanium Medal, well here is the reason. Read it, you might be surprised," said Roy very seriously as if he was upset, so Rick took a seat and started to read the file.

"Report case 01481984-020 Mars Base incident  
During the development of my mission to infiltrate Sara Base on Mars, I found several survivors who were rescued by rescue team 171 commanded by Captain Sullivan. However, one of the survivors remained with me in order to help me in accomplishing the mission to overload the reflex engines that where in the underground of Sara Base. After the mission was accomplished, escape from the base was impossible for us. Lieutenant Riber was seriously injured on his left arm and heavy enemy fire didn't allow us to reach the extraction point.

I turned on my emergency sign in order for a rescue team to reach us, but the enemy fire was so heavy that no rescue team could reach us. In that moment, Corporal Richard Hunter arrived to where we were and in a risky maneuver he broke the pressurized window of the room where Lieutenant Riber and I were. It was obvious that Corporal Hunter wasn't trained for a rescue mission and his VT wasn't able to carry Lieutenant Riber and myself at the same time, so I ordered Hunter to get out of the base with the injured Lieutenant Riber. Hunter was reluctant to comply with my order at the beginning because he had been ordered to rescue me at all costs, but finally he obeyed my command and started to fly away with Lieutenant Riber in the back compartment of the Vt cockpit.

When there were only a few seconds left before the detonation of the Base, putting at risk his own life, Corporal Hunter returned to the base. With a maneuver never seen before, he lifted me out of the base with the hand of the VT in battleloid mode, thereby accomplishing his mission of rescuing me from Sara base without injury and also saving Lieutenant Riber's life because he was able to obtain rapid medical attention.

The RDF must recognize this clear act of courage. Corporal Hunter put his life in danger in order to accomplish a direct order, going beyond his duties as soldier. His will to save other people's lives has been clearly seen in Corporal Hunter's behavior, even before he became a soldier. This is the reason why I fully recommend awarding Corporal Hunter with the Titanium Medal for Courage Beyond Duty. This medal clearly represents Corporal Hunter's actions on Sara Base, even when he was ordered to leave the Base in order to save his life and Lieutenant Riber's life, he came back and saved my life.  
Actions such as this should be recognized in days that we are living.  
Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Hayes, SDF-1 First Officer and Flight Operator."

Rick finished reading the file and was speechless. He couldn't believe what he had read, especially because after he had rescued her from Sara Base, she had been really pissed off with him to the point that he thought that she would kick him out of the service. But then there was this report where she was recommending him be awarded with the Titanium Medal. He just didn't know what to think.

"After that I had no choice but to recommend you receive the Titanium Medal," said Roy.

"But I don't get it Roy, I thought that she was furious …" Rick was saying, but he kept quiet when he saw Roy's killer look.

"You should be a little more grateful Rick, she could have gotten you a court martial for putting her and Lieutenant Riber's life in danger with your attempt to be a hero, but she saw beyond that. That's why she is our flight operator, you know. Again, you should respect her more," said Roy.

"I know, it's just all this takes me off guard," said Rick looking at the report again. He felt so weird about all this.

"Like I said, you create an image of her in your head that has nothing to do with reality."

"I guess so…" said Rick and looked at the floor again. Now he really regretted the fact that he had given his medal to Minmei. If he had known all that the medal represented he would have kept it; he would have treasured it.

"You are thinking about how it must feel to be loved in that way?" asked Roy after a moment of silence.

"Yes," said Rick and looked at Roy. Actually, that was a big part of what he was thinking. "I was thinking that it would be nice if Minmei loved me in that way."

Roy only made a grin, he knew Minmei a little, more than anything by what Rick had told him and that was enough to know that she could never love someone in the same way that Lisa loved Riber. She was too self-centered to do that. But he knew that he would never make Rick understand that, he would have to find out by himself.

"Minmei is still to young to understand the true meaning of love."

"You are saying that because you don't know her," said Rick a little pissed off.

"True I don't know her, but how old is she? Fifteen?"

"Sixteen," answered Rick.

"Rick, whether you like it or not Minmei is still a kid, she doesn't understand the meaning of love, not like Lisa does. Don't think that I think that Minmei is not the right one for you, that's something that only you can decide. All I'm saying is that she is not the woman that you are searching for to love you unconditionally, the person who would be able to give up everything for you. Maybe she will be some day, but right now all that she is, is a teenager."

"You are wrong Roy, you were saying that I made a picture of Lisa in my head that had nothing to do with the real one, well you are doing the same with Minmei, you are not judging her fairly."

"Hey! It's not for you to be angry with me, I'm just telling you what I think, you were the one that came here looking for me."

"I'm sorry," said Rick ashamed when he noticed that Roy was upset. "I think I better leave, it's really late."

"Yes, it wouldn't be a bad idea, we both need to rest," said Roy and stood up.

"True, sorry to have woken you up," said Rick when he was near the door.

"Hey, it's no problem, you know that you can count on me for whatever you need," said Roy giving Rick a hard hit on the back.

"I know, thanks for answering my questions."

"You only have to swear to me that you won't say a word to anyone."

"I swear."

"Because if Claudia finds out that I told you, she will kill me."

"I know, but don't worry, no one will know about this conversation."

"Fine."

"Fine," said Rick and stepped out of Roy's apartment. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Roy and they held each other, then Rick started to walk away.

"Rick," said Roy.

"Yes."

"About Minmei, you know people change. I mean, have you ever thought that I would be so in love like I am?"

Rick only look at him and smiled, "Thanks brother, for everything. And forget everything that I said in the morning," said Rick with a voice that sounded sad to Roy.

Roy closed the door and regretted his last words. He felt that he was giving Rick false hopes; he knew that Minmei wouldn't change or that at least she wouldn't ever feel the commitment and devotion that Rick was wanting, not like Lisa had done. Rick would have to wait and grow up before a woman like Lisa put her eyes on him. A woman like Lisa, thought Roy. Rick and Lisa- now that would be an interesting combination to see, he thought with a smile.  
"You really are tired Fokker, you better go to bed, because you are talking nonsense," said Roy, entering his bedroom and jumping into bed.

Rick entered his bedroom, put his pajamas on and let himself fall onto the bed. He was incredibly tired, but even with all that he could not fall asleep, he couldn't get his conversation with Roy out of his head. He knew that Roy didn't believe the last thing that he had said to him and even when he refused to accept it, something in his heart told him that it was true, that Minmei would never love him with so much devotion.

Rick thought about it and imagined how it would feel to be with someone that loved in that way, in how safe and happy Riber should be feeling. He wanted to feel that way; he wanted someone to love him like that. He needed someone to help him feel stronger, someone that would listen to him, support him and just be with him, without asking anything in return. Someone who was there every time that he needed it, when everything else seemed to overwhelmed him, when the battles, the war, the death was to much for him. Then she would only hold him and be with him. And he would have someone waiting for him, someone to return to after every battle. Someone that loved him in the same way that Lisa loved Riber, the same way he wanted to be loved. Rick tried to think more until his eyes started to close, but one phrase remained in his head until he fell completely asleep with a smile on his face "someone that loves him like Lisa loves, some one like Lisa……. "

To Be continued….


	7. Chapter 7

**Can a second Chance change it all?**

Chapter 7

**"With Eyes Wide open"**

Author: Jo

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech or Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man, and maybe they do exist just maybe….)

To: K71, thank you so much for been my beta and to everyone who read this.

_Macross city_

The weeks since Rick had been promoted to team leader had gone by fast, especially because of the many duties he had to do now that he was a team leader.

And above all, there was the Minmei issue. She had entered the Miss Macross pageant, a beauty pageant that the Mayor of the city decided to do in order to distract people from the war.

Rick didn't like the idea at all; it was enough to have her normally surrounded by other men in the restaurant but now she would be exposed to the entire ship. But that wasn't what bothered him the most. What bothered him the most was the fact that he knew deep in his heart that she loved that kind of attention.

So tonight was the night of the pageant. Even though his squadron was on stand by, things lately had been really quiet with the enemy so Rick decided to go to the pageant and if something happened he was sure that he would get called. After everything was ready on the base he left to go to the pageant.

He barely made it on time to see her appear to the crowd. She looked so beautiful in the Chinese dress that she had worn for her birthday.

"Her Birthday….." Rick thought and that made him remember the gift that he had given to her, his medal for courage under combat. He regretted that he had given her that medal as soon as he had found out why he had received it. The fact that Commander Hayes considered him a role model for the soldiers had caused a strange reaction in him, something that he couldn't put into words. He was proud of himself but it was more than that. In a way he wanted to be the good soldier that she believed he was, but that was difficult for him. That medal represented in a way all the faith that Commander Hayes had in him and he had given the medal to Minmei. What tormented him the most was the fact that no matter what she would never understand the meaning of that medal. Never.

But even after all that, he couldn't deny his feelings for Minmei. So there he was, breaking the rules only for her; to watch her in that beauty pageant. And there she was, radiant in her Chinese dress, ready to answer the question that the jury would ask her, but he was too caught up watching her to pay attention to her answers.

That is, until Captain Gloval gave her a question that definitely caught his attention.

"Do you have a steady boyfriend among all the fighter pilots that you count as your friends?" asked Gloval.

"I don't believe that I'm ready for that at this point. I mean, I think it is best to have a lot of different friends," answered Minmei.

"Do you find it difficult having male friends?" asked Colonel Maistroff.

Minmei laughed, "Not at all! In fact, I have one really good friend who's just like a brother to me."

Rick was paralysed in disbelief and he clenched his fist in anger against the banister where he was leaning. A brother, A BROTHER that was all that he was for her!

Rick was really mad and then to make things worse the cold voice of the communications officer interrupted the pageant.

"Lieutenant Hunter. Bridge calling Lieutenant Hunter."

Lisa was with the girls on the bridge. She was in charge of the ship while the Captain was participating on the jury of the beauty pageant.

"Have you ever noticed how handsome the captain is?" asked Kim and the girls of the bridge laughed.

"He has this mysterious thing that makes him very attractive," said Claudia.

"Hey watch your mouth or I will tell Roy," Lisa joked and all the girls of the bridge laughed again.

"Have you checked the prizes for the Miss Macross contest?" asked Sammie.

"They are amazing. The plane, it's incredible," said Vanessa.

"And it was 100 made in Macross. Doctor Lang did an amazing job," said Lisa. Suddenly the door of the bridge opened and an officer from Doctor Lang's team was standing in the door.

"Commander Riber requesting permission to enter the bridge, Commander Hayes," said Karl in his most military voice.

Karl was standing in the bridge door, waiting for Lisa to give him permission to enter the bridge and all the eyes on the bridge were fixed on him. The girls were finally meeting Karl Riber, the long time lost love of Lisa Hayes, and when they saw him they understood why she was so in love with him. He was dressed in his black uniform, actually the jacket was black with grey lines and the turtle neck of his uniform was yellow as a way to show that he was part of the first mars mission. The pants of his uniform were also grey and the colors of the uniform and the fact that he was pretty tall made him look even more distinguished. The contrast between his light brown, slightly unruly hair with the black of the jacket gave him a sexy look and his light blue eyes that were sparkling in Lisa's direction and the sweet but mysterious smile that he was wearing made the girls of the bridge lose their breath. To finish his look, there was the gallon of Lieutenant Commander on his left arm and the patch showing that he was part of the scientist personnel of the SDF-1. In his hands was a tray with six cups of coffee.

"Permission conceded, Commander" said Lisa trying to sound professional but unable to hide a smile. It was the first time that she had seen him in his new uniform and without the sling, so she was as surprised and breathless as the rest of the girls on the bridge.

"I thought that you might want a cup of coffee," said Karl as he started to walk in Kim and Sammie's direction.

"Oh you are so cute," said Sammie with a dreamy voice and all the girls started to laugh, "I mean you are so kind," corrected Sammie as she turned red.

Lisa also laughed but she remained at her post, not sure if she should go or not; to say hi to him or to salute him. After all, she was on shift and they were on the bridge, but on the other side he looked so handsome with his new uniform. The black jacket just enhanced the way his good boy face mixed with this bad boy gaze that he had and that made Lisa's knees tremble.

"Come on Lisa, go" said Claudia and gave a small slap on the back to Lisa. Lisa gave her a shy smile and started walking toward Karl who was now surrounded by the girls.

"So you work for Doctor Lang?" asked Kim.

"Yes, I used to work with him on Earth so it was natural that I continue working with him," answered Karl. He was working on Doctor Lang's team doing armament research and trying to figure it out the enemy behavior.

"But your uniform is not like the rest of Doctor Lang's team," Vanessa remarked.

"Well that's because I graduated from the officers academy on Earth," said Karl.

"And because you are the second in command," added Lisa with a smile. As she came to stand next to him all the girls immediately took a step back.

"Not exactly the second in command," said Karl with a smile and his face changed immediately and all his attention was focused in Lisa.

"But you are Doctor Lang's right hand," said Lisa and her eyes were fixed on Karl's but Karl only smiled at her.

"Coffee?" he asked tenderly without taking his eyes off of her.

"Sure," answered Lisa and Karl passed her the cup of coffee and softly touched her fingers, "with cream and one spoonful of sugar."

"Thanks," added Lisa with a smile. She held the cup with her hand over Karl's and Karl didn't release the cup.

"Look, the participants are starting to appear," said Sammie who was looking at Vanessa's screen and then Lisa released Karl's hand and turned her attention to the screen with her cheeks lightly red.

"Here's your coffee Claudia," said Karl and gave Claudia the last cup of coffee.

"Thanks Karl," said Claudia.

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name," said Karl smiling at Claudia.

"I agree completely with you," said Claudia.

"Look, Jan Morris is in the pageant," said Kim.

"Really?" asked Claudia and suddenly the image of the pageant were replaced with a radar image.

"What's that?" asked Lisa with concern and Vanessa went immediately to her post and started to get information of the image.

"I'm receiving images of an enemy ship in our perimeter," said Vanessa as Lisa moved to her station along with the rest of the girls, leaving Karl alone in the center of the bridge.

"How many?" asked Lisa.

"Just one," said Vanessa and after a moment she added, "I believe it's only a recon ship."

"Who's on standby tonight?" asked Claudia and Lisa picked up her earphones.

"Prometheus this is Commander Hayes, put the standby squadron leader on line please," said Lisa and after a moment she added in a voice that was a mixture between anger and surprise, "What do mean he is not there?" Lisa tightened her fist and then added with a very serious voice, "Locate him and pass him to me ASAP."

"The ship is steady in the same place Lisa," said Vanessa.

"Good," said Lisa.

"I think I should go now," said Karl.

"Nooooo," said the trio at the same time.

"You can stay Karl, this is only a routine procedure," said Lisa with a softer voice.

"Are you sure?" asked Karl with concern.

"Of course I am," said Lisa and just a second later a light turned on in Lisa's panel. When she answered and it was Rick who was on the other side of the line her face change immediately- she was livid.

"Lieutenant Hunter reporting."

"What Kind of soldier do you think you are?" said Lisa in a hard voice "You are on standby tonight and you aren't on the Prometheus!"

"I.. I was.."

"An enemy ship just crossed your sector and you didn't even know!" said Lisa looking at the screen with anger.

"I was eating," was all that Rick could say, angry by the reaction of Commander Hayes.

"I don't care what you were doing, report to the Prometheus NOW! And scramble!" said Lisa and she cut communication without even letting Rick answer.

Karl was standing next to the Captain's chair and looking at Lisa with interest. He had always imagined Lisa as a dedicated and correct officer and looking at her working was extremely fascinating for him. Actually, he wouldn't like to be in the shoes of the Lieutenant that was on stand by that night, because Lisa probably would submit him to something very close to a court martial Karl thought smiling. He was proud of Lisa, she was an excellent soldier, not just the daughter of an admiral, and she wouldn't expect less from an officer under her command.

"What's the enemy ship doing?" asked Lisa and that made Karl get back to what was happening on the bridge.

"It's fixed in the same place," answered Vanessa.

"Hunter already reported to the Prometheus, Lisa," said Kim and Lisa only nodded with a severe expression.

Rick hung up the phone and was upset. Why did an enemy ship have to cross his sector right now, and why if it was so important was he the only one to get called? Then above all Commander Hayes had to call him a bad soldier.

"What's wrong with her? First she said that I'm a role model to soldiers and now she treats me like I'm the worst soldier ever," thought Rick as he slapped the door of the phone booth and started to walk down the street. If he was lucky enough some taxi would take him to the Prometheus as fast as possible.

"Hey Bro, where are you going? You will miss the swimsuit contest," said the voice of Roy at Rick's back.

"I'm on stand by tonight," said Rick pissed off.

"Then good luck," said Roy to bother Rick, but Rick didn't answer him and got into the first taxi that passed by and went to the Prometheus.

Once he was there, he decided that since he was the only one of his squadron that had been called, he would have to go to face the enemy in a worthy ship and that meant the armoured battloid. He would fly that ship and teach the enemy to not cross his way even if that meant that Commander Hayes put a scream in the skies. And that was what happened as soon as he had taken off.

"Hunter who issued you permission to take out the armoured battloid? You are supposed to be flying ghost support, not confrontational!" said Lisa, whose image appeared on the left commo screen.

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm alone here against an enemy vessel, it doesn't matter if it's just a recon.."

"Silence Hunter, you aren't authorized to fly an armoured battloid, that ship is for special missions only."

"I know but…" interrupted Rick.

"And you deliberately took off in it?" said Lisa in a sarcastic tone.

"Look Commander could you at least give me the enemies coordinates please?" said Rick with disgust.

"If you had been at your post you would already know the enemy location, but since you weren't you will have to wait, it seems that there is some kind of interference on the military frequencies," said Lisa as her image started to get blurry on Rick's screen.

"I'll wait," said Rick with no enthusiasm.

"The enemy coordinates are 545 per 790 on the sector…" Lisa was saying but her image disappeared and instead of the commander the image changed to the image of "Zenny's fast food."

"In what sector?" said Rick out loud but he got no answer from the commander. After trying to change channels for while, he left it on the first channel where the image of the Commander had been. That channel now had TV commercials. Probably commercials that were airing during the pauses of the beauty pageant, and that wasn't a bad thing -maybe he would see Minmei in the bathing suit competition after all.

"Change to Channel 3," appeared the flash image of Commander Hayes. Rick made a grin and changed the channel, but the image of the commander didn't look better.

"It seems to be that MBS transmissions are interfering with us. I'll change to laser induction- stand by," said Lisa.

"Sure, if that makes you happy," said Rick with a voice full of sarcasm. He was really more interested in the beauty pageant that in the enemy location, but for his bad luck the laser induction did work and Lisa's image appeared clear on his screen and gave him the coordinates of the enemy vessel. But that was the only thing that he needed, so after he received the coordinates he faked interference and cut the communication with the bridge and tuned to the contest again.

There were two participants before Minmei's turn, and he was very anxious. He even forgot the fact that he was out in space, in a new ship that hadn't been properly tested in combat and accomplishing a recon mission. His mind was only occupied by the idea of seeing Minmei in a swimsuit.

When her name was announced he instinctively closed his eyes. He wanted to be surprised by her image in a swimsuit because he had never seen her like that before. At the moment that he opened his eyes everything else disappeared. His eyes where fixed on the image, on every detail of Minmei's body. He didn't even pay attention to the red light that appeared on the screen announcing to him that the enemy vessel was in dangerous range. That didn't matter to him, only looking at her walk on the stage with her green swimsuit, her hair free and that gorgeous smile on her face. He was hypnotized.

Then suddenly he was taken back to reality, to his reality-he was in the middle of a war, in enemy territory and in the target of the enemy vessel. He knew all that when the image of Minmei disappeared from the screen and was replaced by the image of the missiles that the enemy vessel was shooting to his tail.

"That's weird, not even the laser induction seems to work," said Lisa with concern.

"But he is heading in the enemy vessel's direction," added Vanessa.

"Let's hope that everything will turn out ok," said Lisa.

"Can we put the beauty pageant on a secondary screen Lisa?" asked Sammie. Lisa hesitated for a second before she spoke.

"Only on a secondary screen, I want Vanessa's screen and mine focused on the enemy vessel," said Lisa.

"Sure," said Kim and Sammie with joy, and the image of the contest appeared on screen at Sammie's station and all the eyes where fixed on her screen.

"The swimsuit competition already started," said Vanessa.

"Look, it's the girl from the Chinese restaurant. I thought she was too young to enter the pageant," said Kim.

"Why didn't you enter the contest Lisa, you probably would have won," said Claudia.

"I'm a soldier, not a beauty queen," said Lisa raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"What do you think commander?" asked Sammie to Karl.

"It's Karl and I think that any of you could have entered the pageant and won," said Karl with a smile, making all the girl smile too, "I mean, now that I see the participants I understand why the captain has all of you locked here on the bridge. You could beat all those girls any time," he hadn't even finished the sentence when Sammie and Kim were hanging from his neck making him flush and making Lisa and Claudia laugh.

"You are so sweet!" said Sammie.

"You definitely should be one of the judges," said Kim and suddenly she let go of Karl, "Oh my God Lisa, I'm so sorry," said Kim and her face was all shades of red.

"Lisa!" said Sammie with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Its ok," said Lisa with a smile, "but we are on shift right now girls," said Lisa with a reproachful tone that wasn't very believable.

"Yes Lisa, of course," said Kim and she returned to her station, but her eyes were still fixed on Sammie's screen.

When Vanessa announced that the enemy ship had been destroyed and that Lieutenant Hunter's ship had survived the explosion and was moving slowly to the SDF-1, everyone got relaxed on the bridge and the beauty pageant was tuned in again on Vanessa's big screen.

"Look the five finalists have already been chosen," said Sammie.

"I knew that Jan Morris would be in the five finalists," said Kim.

"There are only a few girls who can compete with Jan Morris," said Vanessa.

"I think that the girl from the Chinese restaurant is tough competition," said Claudia.

"What do you think Karl?" asked Sammie.

"She is not ugly, but definitely she's not my type. I only have eyes for one woman," said Karl, looking at Lisa with pure love in his eyes, making her flush.

"Ohhhhhhh!" exclaimed the girls.

"Look, the voting already started," said Vanessa and the girls remained in silence while the voting was running. Claudia and Lisa got closer to Vanessa's screen to see the results and Karl got closer to Lisa. Because everybody was watching the screen he softly took Lisa's right hand in his, making her look at him with a smile and losing all the attention that she had on the pageant. There where only Karl and her on the bridge for that fraction of time.

"Can you believe it? The Chinese restaurant girl won," said Kim surprised.

"I just can't believe that Jan Morris didn't win!" said Sammie.

"I told you that girl was dangerous. Roy told me that she is very popular among the pilots," said Claudia.

"I find it so unfair, she is just a kid! There's no way that she can appreciate the amazing plane that she will get!" said Sammie.

"She is only a couple of years younger than you, Sam," said Vanessa.

"But I'm still older than her and you know that I'm right," said Sammie.

"Maybe, but she didn't break any rule of the pageant," said Claudia.

"I still think that there must be a participant who represents the RDF. It's so unfair that they didn't let us participate," said Kim.

"That's so true, we should have competed!" said Sammie.

"In that I agree with you, there should have been someone representing the RDF," said Vanessa.

"What do you think Lisa?" said Kim and all of them turned to Lisa, who was caught looking at Karl just as much as he was caught looking at her.

The girls looked at each other and Sammie gave a sigh that took Lisa and Karl back to reality.

"Sorry what did you say?" said Lisa trying to not be nervous.

"What do you think of that Chinese girl winning?" said Kim.

"Isn't she a little bit young?" asked Lisa.

"That's what I was saying and besides I think that there should have been someone who represents the RDF in that pageant."

"I'm not sure about that, I mean what image people would have of an officer who entered a beauty pageant?" said Lisa.

"I think it depends on the officer," said Karl.

"Exactly. If it's a good officer then no one will think badly of her reputation if she enters a beauty pageant," said Claudia.

"What I do believe now is that the mayor should do a Mister Macross pageant," said Kim and everybody started to laugh on the bridge.

"I'm serious, and then the RDF must have a representative," said Kim.

"I agree with you, one for each squadron," said Sammie.

"And one for each section, have you seen the techs of section 24?" said Vanessa.

"Oh yes!" said Kim and Sammie at the same time.

"Girls you are all lost, Skull one definitely will win if he enters the pageant," said Claudia joking and everybody laughed again.

"How about Doctor Lang's team?" said Lisa joking too and Karl looked at her with a laugh and reproachful face at the same time that made her laugh.

"That will be a close competition," said Vanessa and everybody laugh again, and then Lisa's panel sounded and she immediately returned to her station.

It was only the Prometheus to tell her that Hunter had already arrived to the ship and that the armored battloid had minimum damage. Lisa's shift had already finished but she didn't want to leave the bridge until the Captain called and told her that she could leave, because he would go to the bridge to check things. So when she checked that everything was in order and in place she left the bridge with Karl.

"Bye girls, it was a pleasure to meet you," said Karl to the bridge girls.

"The pleasure was all ours," said Sammie.

"Yes we are really happy to finally meet you," said Vanessa.

"I'm happy to finally meet Lisa's best friends," said Karl and all the girls smiled to him.

"Bye girls, see you tomorrow and if you need anything just call me," said Lisa.

"Yes Lisa, goodnight," said all the girls who were waiting for the Captain to arrived so they could change their shift too.

"Goodnight," said Lisa as she walked away from the bridge door.

"Ahhh," sighed Sammie.

"Oh my God, now I see why Lisa is so in love with him!" said Kim.

"He is so cute!" said Vanessa.

"And soooo handsome!" said Sammie.

"And did you see the way that he was looking at Lisa?" said Kim.

"I wonder if he might have a brother?" said Sammie and everybody started to laugh.

Lisa and Karl left the bridge and started to walk towards Lisa's house.

"You were a sensation with the girls," said Lisa.

"Yeah, you know me, all the girls are crazy for me," said Karla winking at Lisa.

"Yeah I had forgotten that," said Lisa smiling.

"They are good people and they admire you too," said Karl.

"Karl," said Lisa a little embarrassed.

"I was wondering," said Karl and he stopped in his tracks "now that you are off of shift, can I kiss you?"

"How dare you to ask that of the first officer of the SDF-1," said Lisa teasing Karl.

"And what will the first officer do?" asked Karl coming closer to Lisa.

"I don't know. I'll have to find a way to punish you for making that kind of proposition to the first officer."

"Any punishment is worth a kiss from the first officer," said Karl and put his arms around Lisa's waist.

"Really?" said Lisa and Karl tried to kiss her, but she moved back with an evil grin in her eyes, not allowing him to kiss her.

"You will get nowhere with that, now that I have my two arms in good shape," said Karl with his own evil grin.

"We'll see," said Lisa and she moved again, not allowing him to kiss her, but this time he grabbed her closer to him with a little bit more strength, making her laugh and use more strength in order to avoid his kiss. While trying to out maneuver him, she accidentally punched him in his left arm and a hint of pain immediately appeared on Karl's face.

"Oh my God Karl, are you ok?" asked Lisa.

"Yes I'm fine," said Karl trying to hide his pain.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you in your shoulder. I'm so sorry," said Lisa with concern.

"It's ok Lizie, it's nothing."

"Why don't we go to the infirmary?" said Lisa.

"No, its ok, it will pass," said Karl.

"But I hit you really hard, and they took the sling off just today. Why don't we go?"

"I'll be fine, really it's just that I was caught off guard," said Karl and smiled at Lisa.

"Oh come on Karl, don't play the tough guy role in front of me. Why don't we go to the infirmary so I can calm down?" said Lisa with a tender voice.

Karl just looked at her and smiled, "You know that I never can say no to you when you use that voice," said Karl.

"Why do you think I used that voice?" said Lisa smiling.

When they arrived at the infirmary, Karl entered the ER unit and Lisa walked to the waiting room. She had tried to enter with Karl to the ER, but then she regretted it and decided to wait for him outside.

She was watching the TV and the late comments about the Miss Macross pageant when she saw Lieutenant Hunter walk out from the ER holding a small bag over his head.

She stood up and walked in his direction. After all, she had left the bridge with out knowing how his condition was when he landed on the SDF.

"Are you ok Lieutenant?" asked Lisa, making Rick turn in her direction and remove the ice bag from his forehead.

"Yeah I'm fine," said Rick with a hard voice. His head was killing him, he felt like his head was about to explode in the back and he was upset because Minmei had won the pageant and for what he had seen while he was waiting to be attended in the ER, she was really enjoying the win and the attention of the media. And now he met the last person that he wanted to see that day, Commander Hayes.

"You should try putting a hot towel on your head before sleeping to stop the headache," said Lisa raising an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" asked Rick surprised.

"Your headache. It's obvious that you smashed your head in combat; the hot towel will relax you before sleep and stop the spinning," said Lisa.

"Thanks," said Rick confused for one side because the Commander had said to him the exact same words that the doctor had said, and because she had noticed the fact that he had a pack of ice in his hands and she had cared about it.

"So I guess that the encounter with the recon ship wasn't a friendly one?" said Lisa more serious now.

"It wasn't. They attacked me as soon as I was close enough."

"It was a shame that the MBS transmissions blocked ours, you probably would have needed back up."

"It wasn't truly necessary, I managed the situation in the end," said Rick modestly.

"Yes you did, but either way I should have sent back up when the transmission was cut and the laser induction didn't work."

"Really Commander, it wasn't a big fight out there. I look worse than I should."

"Well then I hope that you don't feel as bad as you look," said Lisa with a hint of humor that took Rick completely by surprise.

"Actually I think I do," answered Rick finally and they both shared a smile, "but most of it is my fault, the enemy didn't cause as much damage as the new battloid, it took me a while to adjust to the new controls," said Rick and Lisa only looked at him with a drastic expression.

"The armoured battloids are very complex machines," she said seriously, "but I guess that Commander Fokker's Little Brother can handle one," said Lisa more softly.

"With some difficulties, but yes," said Rick and then he added, "but the ship did the work on its own, it's a great machine."

"I guess so, Doctor Lang spent a lot of time developing it and it has the most advanced technology on it, but its just in the test stage," Lisa was saying when Karl appeared by her side.

"And we really need to do a combat test for it," said Karl and Lisa immediately turned in his direction with concern.

"Are you ok?" she asked and came closer to him.

"Yes I'm fine," said Karl with a smile.

"Does your shoulder still hurt you?"

"No it doesn't."

"Are you sure? What did the doctor say?" asked Lisa looking at Karl in the eyes and completely forgetting that Rick was there.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was just one of the stitches," he said and smiled at her with confidence and security and that calmed Lisa immediately.

"Good evening, Lieutenant Hunter," said Karl looking in Rick's direction.

"Good evening, Commander Riber," said Rick seriously and feeling the pain of his head back again.

"I heard that you were talking about the new armored battloid," said Karl.

"Yes, Lieutenant Hunter took one to combat tonight," said Lisa remembering that Rick was in the room too.

"So it was you?" said Karl and looked at Rick, who gave him a questioning look "I was on the bridge."

"Yes," was all that Rick said.

"Then I will have to have a meeting with you tomorrow, to collect data about how the battloid fulfilled its functions," said Karl.

"Isn't that the work of Doctor Lang's team?" asked Rick.

"Yes and I work with Doctor Lang. Actually I'm the one in charge of the test procedures of new weapons and battloids," said Karl.

"Then I'll be in your office tomorrow commander," said Rick with no enthusiasm.

"I'll be waiting for you," said Karl.

"Well, then I think its time to leave. It's really late and I think that everybody here needs to rest," said Lisa.

"I agree with you," said Karl and then he looked at Rick, "Goodnight Lieutenant," he said and offered his hand to Rick.

"Goodnight," said Rick.

"Goodnight Hunter," said Lisa and bent her head.

"Goodnight Commander," said Rick and Karl and Lisa started to walk away.

He couldn't avoid looking at them as they walked away. She tenderly placed her arms around his right arm and looked at him with concern. Rick could even hear at the distance that she was asking him about his shoulder with a very sweet voice and that he kissed her on the forehead and then they disappeared from his gaze.

And there he was all alone in the waiting room, with a pack of cold ice and hearing the sound of the TV where the image of Minmei being crowned the Queen of Macross passed over and over again. There he was, with a killing headache that he had gotten because he was too caught up watching Minmei in the pageant to pay attention to his mission. He had been on the edge of death because of her. He had risked his life in order to maintain everything normal while the pageant was taking place and no one knew about that. She would never find out he had risked his life so she could be crowned Miss Macross. There she was smiling at the cameras, flirting with the journalist and there he was all alone in the waiting room of the infirmary, with no one to care about him, no one to ask him if he was ok, if his head was hurting him, no one to ask him what the doctor had said. Minmei should be here in the waiting room waiting for him, like Commander Hayes was waiting for Riber. And for Christ sake Riber was only suffering from pain in the shoulder and he had been hurt in combat. He deserved the kind of attention that Riber was getting, he was the one that put his life in danger and fought the enemy, not just sit there and collect data about battloids. But there he was, alone. Then he remembered that to Minmei he was just a friend, almost like a brother. And that wasn't what he wanted to be for her; he didn't want her as his sister, he wanted her to be like Commander Hayes was with Riber.

Lisa and Karl arrived at her house; both too tired to eat so they just sat on the couch and drank some coffee with some cookies.

"I'm so tired that I don't even want to turn on the TV," said Karl.

"Me too, plus there's nothing good on. They are just transmitting the Miss Macross pageant over and over," said Lisa as she crawled next to Karl.

"True, I had forgotten that," said Karl as he tenderly kissed Lisa's forehead and started to caress her hair, making her hold him closer.

"Are you sure that your shoulder is ok?" asked Lisa with a sleepy voice.

"Yes Lizie, it's ok, it was just one of the stitches, but its ok, the doctor put a patch on it and it's like a brand new one," said Karl smiling at her.

"I was a little bit concerned," said Lisa and she rested her chin on Karl's chest so she could look at him in the eyes.

"I'm ok, you have nothing to worry about it," said Karl and caressed Lisa's cheeks. Lisa only looked at him in the eyes and that's all that she needed to feel calm, to feel at home and relaxed, just looking in his eyes.

"I love you," said Lisa shyly after a while and she could feel how her cheeks were turning red.

"I love you too Lizie," said Karl and he held her tight. They remained holding each other for some moments until Karl kissed her forehead and they looked into each other's eyes again and then they kissed.

The tender kiss that had started everything was turning deeper and deeper to the point that they were no longer sitting on the couch and all the tiredness of the days started to fade away. There was nothing else on their minds other than the one another, the sweet passionate kiss, the need to hold the other, to be close, and that electric sensation that only one could awaken in the other.

Suddenly Karl moved so he could rest his weight on his shoulder and look at Lisa who had moved to the same position to look at him. He caressed her nose with his and removed some hair from her face. She softly put her hand over his and looked him in the eyes, trying to find that calm that she felt that her heart was beating too fast to the point that she was breathing fast too. But she didn't find that calm, she found only that he was in the same state as her and even when that should have caused in her the opposite effect to calming her down, she was calmed. He was with her and that was all that she needed.

Just then Karl stood up from the couch and in a gentle move lifted her from the couch, holding her in his arms, and started to walk in the direction of her bedroom.

Lisa was about to protest because she was worried that the stitches would come out again from his shoulder wound.

"I'm fine," said Karl just as if he had read her mind and she only smiled at him.

When they arrived at her bedroom, Karl softly left her on the bed and searched for her eyes, when he found them he softly caressed her cheeks with the tips of his fingers and then stood up and walked to the windows and closed the curtains. Lisa remained on the bed unable to move. There was just too many things going on in her head and heart to allow her to move and as Karl was coming back to the bed her heart started to beat faster and faster.

He sat on the edge of the bed and softly moved away some hair from Lisa's face and then he bent down closer to her, resting his arm on each side of her on the bed.

"I love you," said Karl honestly, making her smile shyly and making her eyes sparkle.

"I love you," said Lisa and she touched his face tenderly. Karl kissed her hand and then grabbed it in his. He bent down again until he was just a few inches away from her face, then he made a pause and a moment later they kissed again. They kissed as if with every kiss that they had shared they could recover all the time that they had lost.

Lisa broke the kiss and started to give him soft kisses on the neck while he tenderly caressed her right shoulder and held her even closer to him. When she stopped the kisses on his neck they kissed again with passion and then he looked at her in the eyes and held her, just held her.

He loved her with his entire soul, like nobody else and that's why he knew it was too soon. He could feel her heart beat and he could feel that deep in her she was a bit scared, that it was too soon yet. It didn't matter to him if he had to wait, he could wait forever for her. Just being with her was all that he needed, the rest was just a plus.

Lisa held him with strength and rested her head on his chest, just feeling him close. Hearing his heart beat, hearing him breath, was all that she need to be happy, to be secure. And in that calm that he gave him, in that security, in the love that he gave her, she started to feel sleepy, to feel relaxed, until finally she fell asleep in his arms.

To be continued…

Author's note: I hope that you have like this chapter, I did my best trying to make this chapter fit into the original history line.

And for all of you that want to see how the handsome Karl looks, here is a gorgeous draw made by GPPR, that truly represent how I imagine Karl will look (thank you so much for that draw) www.robotech. As usual I'll bewaiting for your reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 8

"Changing Rooms?"

Author: Jo

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man).

To: Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and to all the people that had encourage me to keep writing

Lisa woke up slowly with the sound of the doorbell. She wasn't sure how much time she was asleep. She turned her head and saw Karl sleeping next to her, holding her hand. He looked at her and rubbed his eyes.

"Who could it be?" asked Lisa, still half-asleep.

"I'll go to check," said Karl and got out of bed, trying to fix his hair and put on a T-shirt as he walked out of the bedroom.

Lisa moved off the bed slowly and grabbed her own T-shirt. It was almost time for her shift, so she got out of bed and went into the bathroom.

24 hours earlier.

Lisa woke up early in the morning and grabbed her oldest pair of jeans and a T-shirt and went to the living room where she found Karl standing in the middle of several suitcases.

"Hi there," said Lisa when she was close enough to Karl.

"Hi Lizie," said Karl and brought her closer to kiss her.

"Do you have everything ready to move?" asked Lisa when they broke the kiss.

"Yes, I never thought that I would have bought so many clothes lately," said Karl with a smile. Lisa smiled back.

"The rest of your stuff was sent to your apartment?" asked Lisa.

"Yes, some of it. The rest will be delivered today in the afternoon."

"Then how about having breakfast and then going to your place so I can help you with painting and arranging it?" said Lisa as she started to walk to the kitchen.

"What happened to your shift?"

"I changed it with Sammie. I believe that she needs more training, you know?" said Lisa.

"Really, why?" asked Karl while he put the mugs on the table.

"Well, I believe that she will be a great flight operator, but all that she needs is more training," said Lisa as they started to talk while they ate breakfast.

After that, they went to Karl's new apartment that was located in the single officer's area. It was a small apartment that normally was used by the leaders of squadrons and officers of medium rank. Lisa entered the apartment carrying some of Karl's suitcases, while he carried some boxes.

"Are you sure that you can lift weight with your shoulder?" asked Lisa.

"Yes Mom, my shoulder is perfectly fine," said Karl and placed the boxes on the floor.

"Very funny," said Lisa and walked into the small kitchen of the apartment, "the refrigerator is already here."

"Yeah, but is has nothing in it yet," said Karl while he moved one of the suitcases into the bedroom.

"If is OK with you I can go to the supermarket and buy some things for you," said Lisa.

"Really? That would be awesome, because I want to start painting the living room. You know the red color of the walls isn't exactly my favorite."

"Yeah, I figured that," said Lisa with a smile.

"So, I'm going to move these to the bedroom," said Karl and pointed to the boxes.

"And I'm going to make a list of what you need for the kitchen," said Lisa.

"That sounds great," said Karl and went a few steps into the kitchen to the point that he was only one step away from Lisa. He grabbed her by the waist and looked at her lovingly. "Have I ever mentioned that I love seeing you doing things around the house? You look so sweet," he said smiling.

"Karl," said Lisa and flushed.

"I mean it, you look lovely when you stay in front of the refrigerator and frown trying to figure out what you are going to cook."

"I don't know if I should kiss you for that or hit you," said Lisa with a sweet smile.

"I prefer the first option."

"Yeah me too," said Lisa smiling and softly kissed him.

When Lisa came back from the supermarket, Karl had almost finished painting the room. Only one wall was left.

"How did the visit to the supermarket go?" asked Karl.

"Very well, I just came here with the food for lunch, the rest will be delivered in the afternoon."

"How much did you buy?" asked Karl a little afraid.

"Not that much," said Lisa knowing what he was thinking. After leaving the bags in the kitchen she went next to Karl and grabbed a paint roller.

"Where do I start painting?"

"That wall. Here is the paint," said Karl.

They both started to paint the same wall and it didn't take them too long to finish it. When they finished, they start to joke about who has painted better and playing with the rest of paint when the doorbell start to ring. Karl opened the door to find the supermarket delivery guy with several boxes that he and Karl brought into the apartment.

After the guy left the apartment, Karl searched for Lisa who was in the kitchen heating the lunch.

"You bought a lot," said Karl when he was next to her.

"You think?" said Lisa a little ashamed.

"It's ok," said Karl and kissed her on the forehead, "that smells good," he finally said looking at the serving dish.

"It's just pizza," said Lisa with a smile and handed Karl the dishes while she carried the glasses and two cans of Coke.

"The dining table is still packed," said Karl.

"We could eat on the floor," said Lisa

"That's not a problem for me," said Karl and Lisa's cheeks turned even redder that before.

They sat on the living room floor and started to have lunch and joke about how they both were covered in paint.

"Look at my face, I will kill you if this is not off by tomorrow morning," said Lisa.

"Oh come on, you look so cute like that," said Karl to provoke her as he touched one of the paint spots on her face.

"Yeah, like the pilots and the captain will think the same tomorrow," said Lisa raising an eyebrow, not happy.

"Hey what about me, do you believe that Doctor Lang will be happy with me looking like this?"

Lisa only laughed and took another bite of her pizza. They remained in silence eating, looking at each other from time to time.

"What? Why are you looking me like that?" asked Lisa with curiosity.

"I was just thinking about how gorgeous you are," he said and smiled.

"Karl…" said Lisa and her eyes brightened looking at him.

"And how incredible that you have waited for me; that you aren't with someone else after all the time that has past,"

"I have always waited for you, haven't I?" said Lisa with a sweet smile.

"Yes you have," said Karl and lowered his gaze with a mixture of guilt and shame, "you have waited for me too many times."

"Karl…" said Lisa and grabbed his hand, "I…" she was saying but he interrupted her.

"When I was trapped on Mars all I could think about was seeing you again. That was all that I wanted. But then I realised that you probably would believe that I was dead and that if I ever saw you again you probably would be with someone else; you probably would have moved on. As time went by I was sure that you had started a new life and that I was just a memory."

"Even if I had moved on, you would have always been part of my life, not just a memory. You know how important you were for me," said Lisa and Karl held her hand, "how important you are to me," she said and smiled.

"And how important you are to me too," he said and kissed the back of her hand tenderly, "how much it means for me that you have waited for me all these years," he said and remained in silence. Lisa looked at him and held his hand tightly.

"And?" she said knowing that he had something else on his mind.

"And sometimes I think that I don't deserve you; I don't deserve that you have gave me a second chance and I don't deserve that you have waited for me all these years," he said not looking at her, feeling too ashamed.

"Don't say that," said Lisa seriously, searching for his eyes until she finally made him look at her, "don't you ever say that ok?" she said in her usual flight operator voice, making Karl almost assume his attention posture. "You deserve me just as much as I deserve you, no more no less. Do you love me?" asked Lisa looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Of course I do, more than you can imagine."

"Then that's all I deserve, all I need," said Lisa with a tender smile that made Karl smile too.

"And you are all that I need," he said and brought her closer to kiss her but she stepped back and covered her mouth.

"Pepperoni breath," she said.

"Like I don't," said Karl with a laugh and brought her closer again and kissed her.

"Karl," said Lisa laughing and punched him softly on his shoulder.

"But it's true," he said with a wider smile and then looked at her with an evil grin.

"What are you thinking?" asked Lisa, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing… is just that..I can't believe how no one put his eyes on you in all these years. What, are they blind?"

"Well its not like I haven't dated in all this time. I did, it's just that none of those dates arrived to a safe harbour."

"How's that?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I did have some dates in these years."

"Really? With who?"

"RDF officers mostly."

"And what happened?"

"Nothing happened, most of them were pilots and all they wanted was to have an adventure with a fresh female graduate from the academy. The rest wanted a woman who would stay at home," said Lisa and rolled her eyes, " and of course there were the ones that couldn't deal with my commitment to my work."

"And your stellar career," said Karl and made a pause. "I just can't believe that they were dumb enough to let you go… but I almost did once," he said and Lisa raised a threatening eyebrow. "But I have to admit that I never imagined that you would date pilots."

"Hey, I was young, I had just finished the academy and most of the pilots are good looking you know."

"And you spent most of the time surrounded by them."

"That too, but its not like I dated many pilots, just a couple and most of them I have never seen again. I guess I scared them when I told them I was Admiral Hayes' daughter," said Lisa and they both laughed.

"That can be pretty scary, I have to say," said Karl and Lisa punched him softly again. "Hey, it's the truth. So, none of these guys passed the first date?"

"Well there was one. He was the ace pilot of the base and of course a ladies man. We were working together on the project Excalibur, he was the test pilot and I was his CAG and a couple of times his RIO; I guess that was the reason we started to date. But nothing really happened, we both had our hearts already taken," said Lisa with a smile, "so we became friends, good friends, he is like a brother to me."

"That's …" Karl was saying, but Lisa finished the sentence for him.

"Weird? Yes of course it is. But we never truly dated; we just hung out together and talked. Nothing really happened, plus the fact that we could have never work out together. We are just too stubborn and too much alike. That's why we are more like brother and sister- always taking care of each other and the rest of the time fighting, neither of us willing to assume that the other one is right."

"Why do I think I can imagine you doing that?" said Karl in a sarcastic voice.

"Very funny," said Lisa and then she smiled, "the only one that can make us both shut up is Claudia."

"Claudia?" asked Karl curiously.

"She is his girl, everybody knows that eventually they are going to get married but they have never specified at what point of the relationship they are. They are just soul mates."

"You dated Claudia's boyfriend?" asked Karl in disbelief.

"Long ago, before they started dating. They had met a few years earlier but nothing happened. Then they met again when Roy and I were just friends" explained Lisa.

"And does she know it?"

"Of course she does and she teases us every time she can," said Lisa and rolled her eyes.

"Wow, that was something I could have never imagined, you dating a pilot -an ace pilot and a ladies man."

"I have dated ladies men before," said Lisa with a grin that made Karl flush.

"Yeah, but not a pilot. Who could have imagined that? You could have even ended up marrying a pilot," said Karl.

"No way!" said Lisa almost in panic, " there's no way that will ever happen. That would be like a karmic punishment… I have to deal with them all day and then at home…no thank you," said Lisa and looked at the sky like asking the Lord for that to never happen.

"And it's not like I'm going to let you get married to one," said Karl and softly touched Lisa's chin.

"How about you?"

"How about me?" asked Karl.

"Did you date someone on Mars?"

"I wouldn't call it a date. I did hang out with some of the girls of the crew but we were more worried about survival than dating and I was always comparing them with you…"

"Really?"

"Yeah all the time. If I wasn't comparing them with you I was thinking about what I would do when the rescue party arrived and I'd be able to see you again," he said and gave her a smile and caressed her face.

"I did the same," said Lisa and grabbed Karl's hand that was on her face and they both got lost in each other eyes.

When they finished lunch, they started to organize the rooms. They started with the kitchen, then with the living room and finally with the bedroom. It was late in the afternoon when the bed arrived. They carried it to the bedroom and finished putting everything in place.

"The only thing left is the TV and the stereo," said Karl, looking at the finally finished bedroom.

"I guess they will be delivering them tomorrow, its too late now," said Lisa.

"Yeah, I think so too," said Karl.

"So, what do you think of your apartment?" asked Lisa.

"I like it. We did a great job," said Karl.

"I think so too," said Lisa with a smile.

"But I'm exhausted," said Karl and stretched his back.

"Is your shoulder hurting you?" asked Lisa a little concerned.

"No, just my back," said Karl and winked at her.

"Yeah, well my neck is killing me."

"Your neck is always killing you," he said and got closer to her.

"Yeah, it's because of all the hours I spend looking at the screens on the bridge," said Lisa and rubbed her neck.

"Let me see if there's something I can do," said Karl and made Lisa turn as he put his hand on her neck softly.

"But is not that bad, all I need is a hotba…" Lisa was saying, but Karl's hand started to massage her neck carefully and all she could do was close her eyes and enjoy the feeling.

"You are so tense," said Karl in a whisper in her ear, which only made her more tense.

"Mmm…" was all that Lisa could mumble. As she felt her neck more and more relaxed she could also feel her heartbeat faster and faster. She suddenly turned in his direction and kissed him passionately and deeply. Her move was so sudden that they fell onto the new bed.

Karl responded to the kiss immediately and started to move his hand from her neck to her hair and then to her hips. Lisa rested her hand on his chest. When the kiss broke, Karl moved to be on top and kissed her again fast then continued to kiss her neck. Lisa moved her hands from his chest to his back and started to lower them until they where at the end of his shirt. They looked at each other eyes for a second and then Lisa started to pull his t-shirt up until she removed it, exposing Karl's bare chest. They kissed again, only this time Lisa was the one that broke the kiss and started to kiss Karl's neck.

They turned again and as Karl rested his back against the bed, he started to move his hands from Lisa's hips up, under her t-shirt until they where at her neck. Only then did Lisa stop the track of her kisses and separate a little bit from him, but just the necessary time to pull her own T-shirt off. Once she did, they kissed again, passionately between short breaths and mixed bodies.

Lisa found herself again pressed against the bed and as Karl kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder, she could feel electric shivers travel all the way down her spine, causing her reflexive movements that she thought she had forgotten by now. The same thing was happening to him. He took one of the straps of her bra and slowly started to slip it down her shoulder, kissing every little inch of skin that was in the path of the strap. All that Lisa could do was to caress the hair behind his neck. Once he had completely slipped the strap off one shoulder, he moved to the other.

The silence in Karl's apartment was only interrupted by hard breaths, the pounding of hearts and the sound of kisses against bare skin.

Once Karl had completely removed the straps of Lisa's bra, she could feel her heart beat so fast that it barely let her breath. She wanted to say something but there was no way that she could talk, her mind was busy with other things than her ability to speak. There were so many things running trough her head, so many feelings and emotions there were no words that could explain how she felt, but he felt it. He felt her and stopped his movements and looked at her in the eyes.

"Lizie," he said softly with concern when he saw tears in her eyes. "Sweetie, what happened? Are you ok?" he said worriedly moving away some hair that was on her face.

Lisa only looked at him and bit her lower lip so as not to sob and she held him tight.

"Lizie," he said again and caressed her hair tenderly, "What is it? Are you ok?" he asked, feeling his heart tighten.

Lisa only nodded a yes and held him even tighter, holding the sob barely. He held her tight and kissed her softly over her hair. When he felt that she was a little bit calmer, he softly asked, "Do you want to talk?"

"It's just I…"said Lisa and buried her head in his chest, "I felt so overwhelmed…I..."

"I'm sorry," he said from the bottom of his heart. He felt guilty, feeling a knot in his throat as he spoke, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault… I'm sorry," said Lisa looking at him in the eyes.

"Don't say that, you have nothing to be sorry for …it's my fault I shouldn't have…"

"No Karl…you didn't do anything wrong. It's just I…" said Lisa and looked at him in the eyes tenderly.

"It's ok Lizie… it's ok," said Karl and held her tight, "I love you," was all that he could say as he kissed her on the forehead.

"I love you," said Lisa in a whisper and held him. They remained holding on to each other, holding hands, looking at each other's eyes until both of them fell asleep.

Lisa woke up slowly with the sound of the doorbell. She wasn't sure of how much time she was asleep. She turned her head and saw Karl sleeping next to her, holding her hand. He looked at her and rubbed his eyes.

"Who could it be?" asked Lisa, still half-asleep.

"I'll go to check," said Karl and got out of bed, trying to fix his hair and put on a T-shirt before he walked out of the bedroom.

Lisa moved in the bed slowly and grabbed her own T-shirt. It was almost time for her shift, so she left the bed and went into the bathroom.

She was about to enter the shower when she remembered that all the bathing products where still in the kitchen, so she grabbed Karl's bathrobe and put it on and went to the kitchen. She was already in the living room when she heard another voice.

"Thank you so much Lieutenant Hunter. I'm really sorry that they left this at your place," said Karl.

"It's no problem. I arrived late last night and didn't want to bother you but then I saw the light…" Rick was saying, but when he saw Lisa appear in the living room in the robe the words faded from his mouth as if he was paralysed.

"Lieutenant Hunter!" said Lisa almost horrified and immediately she closed the robe as much as she could.

"The people of the TV and stereo store left these things in Lieutenant Hunter's apartment by mistake. He lives in next apartment and he came to give it back to me," explained Karl.

"Oh," was all that Lisa could say. She felt so ashamed that she was still with paint on her face and dressed only with a bathrobe. The worst of that was she was about to enter shift and so was Hunter

"Yeah..I..I just came to return his things," said Hunter and he felt that his cheeks were turning as red as Commander Hayes' cheek's were.

"Thanks again Lieutenant," said Karl when he noticed the uncomfortable situation.

"Yeah..I think I better go…" said Rick and turned in the direction of the door, not noticing that in his way was a small coffee table with a vase on it. It ended up on the floor, breaking in hundreds of pieces even though Rick tried to grab it before it hit the floor.

"I'm sorry," said Rick, bending down to try to pick up some pieces of the vase.

"It's ok Lieutenant," said Karl and he started to pick up the pieces too.

"I just didn't see the table," said Rick feeling more and more ashamed and stupid.

"Really, it's ok Lieutenant, don't worry," said Karl honestly.

"I will buy you a new one," said Rick not because he wanted to be polite but because he didn't want to feel that he owed the Commander in any way.

"Don't worry lieutenant, accidents just happen," said Karl and he stood up with all the pieces of the vase in his hand.

"It's not a problem," said Rick, straightening his uniform when he stood up. He looked at Karl who was looking at him and then with the corner of his eye he looked at Lisa who was still in the same place as before, looking at him.

"I..I better leave. I don't want to arrive late to my shift," said Rick finally and opened the door, "Good morning Commander, Ma'am" said Rick feeling as dumb as possible before finally leaving the apartment.

When he left the apartment, Karl walked into the kitchen and put the pieces of the vase in the trash while Lisa picked up the bag with bathroom products.

"Do you see what you cause in young pilots?" teased Karl.

"Karl," said Lisa between ashamed and annoyed, "how can you say that! Plus, I felt so ashamed; look how I'm dressed and how I look and I'll have to deal with him in an hour or so," said Lisa distressed.

Karl only looked at her and smiled, then he walked a few steps closer to her and put his hand softly on her face. "Don't worry Lizie, I bet that he felt more embarrassed than you."

"I hope so," said Lisa but in her voice the angst could still be heard.

"How are you?" he asked with concern, looking at her in the eyes.

"I'm fine," said Lisa, holding his hand against her face, "I'm sorry for what happened last night."

"Don't…don't you ever say that," he said honestly.

"Is just that I don't want you to think that I don't want it to happen it's just that…" Lisa was saying as she lowered her gaze.

"It just been so many years since the last time we were that close and it's less than a month since we found each other again. Everything is up side down now for us, and it was too fast … I should have waited…what's the hurry anyway?" he said with a tender smile.

"Is just that … I felt so… there where so many things in my head and in my heart. I have waited to be with you again all these years and now I…" Lisa was saying but she couldn't finish. She felt the knot in her throat again and the tears started to fill her eyes.

"I know Lizie, you don't have to say anything," said Karl and kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

"It's not like I don't want you, I do is just…"

"It's ok," said Karl and looked at her in the eyes, "I mean of course you want me, I'm irresistible," he said mockingly.

"Karl," said Lisa and punched him softly.

"I love you," said Karl tenderly and held her.

"I love you too," said Lisa and they softly kissed.

Rick was walking to the Daedaleus to report for his shift and for some reason he was walking with his jaw and his fist tight. He felt so stupid by his actions in Commander Riber's apartment. It had been so obvious that he was taken by surprise by Commander Hayes' appearance. Probably now they both were laughing at his expense. How idiotic he was to turn and break the damn vase.

Why he was looking at her in any case? Minmei was much prettier than the commander. "But the commander was much sexier," said the other side of his head.

He had to face the fact that he found the commander incredibly hot when he had seen her in her space suit on Mars. The image of her in the space suit had stayed in his dreams more than what he wanted or needed because every time that he had a dream with her climbing down from his VT in that suit he had a hard time trying to concentrate during his shifts. And now he had seen her in a bathrobe and for a fraction of a second he saw her legs. Her toned, slender, long legs. He punched himself in the head just for revisiting the imagine once again.

For Christ sake, it's not like he hadn't seen her legs before; the woman wore a skirt every day to work. But it was so different to see her legs, actually her right leg, slip between the robe. It wasn't like he saw too much, it was probably a half inch more than what she usually showed in her uniform skirt, but the context was so different that now it was all that was in his head.

"Think about the other thing Hunter, the other thing," he said to himself out loud. But as much as he tried to think about Minmei looking so gorgeous wearing his shirt while they where trapped in the lower levels of SDF-1, the image of Lisa in a robe started to pop up in his head over and over again.

"Good Morning Sir," said the soft voice of Max, but Rick didn't listen to him and kept walking to the Daedaleus. Max and Ben looked at each other

"Hey Boss!" yelled Ben this time, making Rick come out of his thoughts.

"Hi," said Rick, still a little confused.

"You look concerned sir. Is there a problem?" asked Max.

"No, nothing," said Rick and tried to look more relaxed.

"Why do I have the feeling that the boss was thinking about a woman?" said Ben in a funny voice.

"What?" said Rick and felt that his cheeks where turning red.

"Definitely, its' a woman," said Ben triumphantly, " so who is the hot girl?"

"No one," said Rick seriously.

"Oh come on Boss, we are like locked boxes, we won't tell anyone," said Ben and hit Max with his elbow.

"It's no one," said Rick a little pissed off, "now we better hurry, it's almost time for our shift."

"Yes sir," said Ben and Max when they noticed Rick's expression.

"We don't want to make Commander Hayes wait," said Ben and they started to walk.

Today was going to be very difficult for Rick to concentrate on his work…very difficult.

Finally his shift was over and God it had been a long shift. The Zentraedis decided to attack and as usual retreat in the last minute when they were winning. But even in that hard combat situation it had been a little difficult for him to concentrate, and it was even more difficult when Commander Hayes was noticing every move that he made on the battlefield. It seemed to be that every time she appeared on the commo screen he was unable to focus and she emphasized his mistakes.

So now he was in the gym trying to release some of the tension by hitting the bag.

Lisa was completely tired, the shift that day had been exhausting but she still could feel the adrenaline run through her veins. She needed to let that adrenaline go away, especially after all that had happen in the last twenty-four hours. There was only one way to burn all that energy, so after thinking about it for a few moments she finally made up her mind and started to walk in the direction of the only place than could make that adrenaline go away.

Lisa could feel the heat of the place and how his eyes where fixed on her as she remove her jacket. She could feel that her cheeks were turning red, but she decided to not to worry about it, she had come here for a reason and there was nothing that could stop her from what she was there to do. And she did it; she put the gloves on and started to punch the sack as hard as she could, like she hadn't done in a long time.

Rick, on the other corner of the gym, was hitting his own bag when he saw Lisa enter the room. He had gone there to release all the tension of the day, to try to not think about her, about how he had seen her early in the morning. This was the last place where he thought he would find her, but there she was, wearing the RDF officer academy sport outfit. She hadn't even noticed his presence until the moment that she was taking her jacket off. He hadn't been able to look any other place than in her direction, and she has noticed. He even noticed that she turned a little red, but that only lasted a second and in the next second she had put her gloves on and started to hit her own sack.

Rick continued hitting his own bag until his strength almost abandoned him. Then a constant sound arrived to his ears and he saw her; Lisa was still hitting her bag and somehow he found that she looked pretty even when she was covered in sweat and jumping. He hid behind his bag and noticed how she hit and he was amazed. He could see immediately that she really knew self- defense. Maybe she wasn't only this old sourpuss in air traffic control.

Lisa stopped and took a deep breath. She was completely tired and all that she wanted was a drink of water. She tried to release her gloves and in that moment she noticed that Rick wasn't practicing anymore. When she couldn't see him anymore she believed that he had left the gym, so she relaxed a little bit. She started to walk in direction of her water and tried to release one of her gloves but they were so tightly fixed that she couldn't. She tried to grab her bottle of water, but the gloves wouldn't let her, so the bottle started to roll on the gym's floor. Before she noticed, someone had grabbed the bottle of water and was offering it to her. When she looked up she could see the figure of Rick in a white RDF T-shirt. He was covered in sweat.

"Thanks," said Lisa a little shyly.

"You're welcome," said Rick but when Lisa tried to grab the bottle it slipped from her gloves and hit the floor again, making the both of them laugh an accomplice laugh.

"I'm sorry, I can't release my gloves. I think I tied them too tight,"

"Maybe I could help," said Rick a little shyly. Lisa smiled at him and offered one hand.

Rick softly grabbed her glove and started to untie it. When he finished Lisa smiled at him again.

"Thank you so much Lieutenant."

"You have nothing to thank me for Commander," said Rick and grabbed her bottle of water and handed it to her.

"Thanks again," said Lisa with a smile and Rick smiled at her in return, "Trying to release some combat tension Lieutenant?"

"Something like that. It has been a very busy week."

"You don't have to tell me, the enemy can be so confusing. Their combat techniques are so peculiar," said Lisa thoughtfully.

"Yes, and in the air this weird attitude of the enemy can be even more confusing."

"I guess so. But believe me, here on the ship we try to put ourselves in your shoes Lieutenant."

"But it's never the same," said Rick with his usual smartass tone.

"It can be even more difficult to be here on the ship Lieutenant. I know you don't believe me but we watch you all out there and every decision that we make here can cost you your life," said Lisa and Rick remained in silence for a while.

"I have never thought about that Commander," said Rick finally.

"That's the reason why I would like to know better how the enemy thinks so that way we could make better and smarter decisions," said Lisa.

"It's very difficult to fight with someone when you don't know what they will do in the next moment. I mean they are about to win on so many occasions and they retreat."

"That's my point. Their strategies are so confusing and I believe firmly that once we understand why they do that we could win this war," said Lisa.

"You really believe that Commander?" asked Rick with surprise.

"I do," said Lisa and sat next to the sack on a bench, "It's like the old phrase, know yourself but know your enemy better."

"And do you have any theory about their behavior?" asked Rick curiously, sitting next to Lisa.

"Many. But none of them are sure. Most of them are based on the investigations of Doctor Lang, but I guess that the best source of information is the enemy itself."

"I agree with you on that."

"That would be the first time that we agree on something," said Lisa, smiling without noticing.

"What are you insinuating Commander, that we fight a lot?" asked Rick in a funny, sarcastic tone. After looking at each other for a few seconds, they both started to laugh.

"But honestly, I believe that the best way to understand the enemy is to be in their own environment. You should know that better than anyone, you have been in more direct contact with them than any of us."

"You could say that, but it's not much that I can say about them, only that somehow I can feel that they are strangely similar to us."

"You mean?" asked Lisa curiously raising an eyebrow, trying to understand what he was saying.

"I don't know, call it a hunch, but I feel that we are similar."

"That's a very interesting thought Lieutenant, and somehow I understand what you feel," said Lisa honestly.

"Only we will have to wait until we meet one of our friends to know if we were right."

"And who knows how long we will have to wait," said Lisa. They remained in silence for awhile and Lisa used that silence to remove the other glove from her left hand.

"I would have never thought that you practiced boxing," said Rick.

"Well I don't exactly box, I practice Taebo," said Lisa and then she added with a malicious tone, "did I surprise you Lieutenant? Or is it maybe that you believe that all I know how to do is to yell on the commo screen?"

"No, not at all," said Rick so fast that he almost choked with his words. "What I mean is that you don't look like the boxing kind of girl."

"And what kind of girl do I look like?" asked Lisa, raising an eyebrow with intrigue.

"I don't know, something more delicate," said Rick and scratch his head thinking, "something like fencing."

"I'm a box of surprises Lieutenant. But you weren't mistaken in one thing, I do practice fencing too, only Commander Grant wasn't able to practice today."

"That's a surprise for me, I never knew that Claudia practiced fencing. I believed that she was more the kind of girl that practiced boxing."

"That's because she is, only I taught her fencing and she improved my abilities in Taebo. She is a really good fighter."

"Roy always said that Claudia could kick anyone's ass anytime, so I guess he really meant it," said Rick with a laugh and they both started to laugh.

"Oh yeah, Claudia definitely can do that," said Lisa between laughs. "I had forgotten that you are so close to Roy. As a matter of fact, I watched you hit the bag for a few seconds and -correct me if I'm wrong- but I would say that he was the one who taught you how to box."

"You are right," said Rick, surprised that Lisa would notice that. "He is like the old brother that I never had. Yes, he taught me how to box among other things."

"And since we are talking about Roy, I'm afraid to ask what other things he might have taught you," said Lisa and rolled her eyes. She knew Roy to well and she knew that behind his cool guy façade there was a sweet guy. But he had an image to keep and she, as his friend, had to protect that image.

"I won't reveal that information," joked Rick.

"I wouldn't expect less from Roy Fokker's little brother," joked Lisa too,

"How did you know that?" asked Rick, completely surprised that she knew how he and Roy named each other.

"His girlfriend is my best friend and Roy and I have known each other for a very long time," said Lisa and smiled to herself. It was funny that she had remembered her early days knowing Roy twice in a day. "We are very close friends, even when it doesn't always seem that way. And I do know some things about you Lieutenant," said Lisa with an evil look.

"I'm afraid to ask what you know," said Rick and before he noticed he was red.

"Oh, that's classified information that I won't reveal," joked Lisa and that made Rick turn even more red.

"Not everything that you hear from Roy is true," Rick defended himself.

"Don't be so scared Lieutenant, Roy has only said good things about you," said Lisa and instinctually gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. "He always talked about how his little brother is a great pilot, how he does these amazing stunts in the air and how valuable he would be if he were in the RDF."

"He said that?" asked Rick with surprise.

" Of course he did, he really appreciates you," said Lisa with a sweet smile.

"He appreciates you too," said Rick and Lisa looked at him curiously. "He always has admired how professional you are, how dedicated you are to your work and how good you are at it. He admires you too."

"You are going to make me blush," said Lisa and looked at the floor.

"But that's true and I agree with him, you are good," said Rick and before he could finish Lisa's eyes were fixed on him. She was surprised by his revelation and all she could do was look at him straight in the eyes. As much as she was caught by surprise by his words, she was taken by surprise by the way she was looking at him, with her deep emerald green eyes, straight into his.

They looked into each other's eyes with surprise for what seemed an eternity until Lisa broke the silence.

"Thanks," was all she said.

"You have nothing to thank me for Commander," said Rick, avoiding her gaze.

"Well, I better get going, it's very late," said Lisa and stood up.

"Yeah, me too, I have the early shift."

"Goodnight Lieutenant," said Lisa as she grabbed her gloves and started to walk away.

"Commander," said Rick, making Lisa turn in his direction, "your jacket," he said and handed her the jacket.

"Thanks again," said Lisa with a smile and took her jacket.

"Goodnight Commander," said Rick and gave her a smile that she returned before finally leaving the gym.

He had released the tension of the battle and the tension of seeing Commander Hayes earlier had produce in him; but now it was replace by a much different tension. Now he was seeing her differently; she wasn't just the old sourpuss of the bridge, and she wasn't just this incredibly hot woman in a space suit. She was human and in a very shy way she was sweet. But above all she was confusing. She confused him and that was the feeling that he carried out of gym. This weird confusion that he felt, this mystery of Commander Hayes that somehow he felt tempted to solve.

To be continued…

Author's Note: I need reviews please, I know this chapter took a long time and that probably is not one of the best, but I promise next chapter will be better. I'll be waiting for reviews.


	9. Chapter 9

Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 8

"Fear and Ghosts"

Author: Jo

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man).

To: Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and to all the people that had encourage me to keep writing

Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 8

"Fear and Ghosts"

Karl woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. He cleaned the sweat from his forehead and walked into the bathroom as he had done the last few nights. He washed his face with cold water, trying to clear his mind. He walked to the living room and rested his weight against the frame of the window, wishing that he could open it so the fresh air could stroke his face. But there was no fresh air on the other side of the window, only the vacuum of outer space where the SDF-1 was flying. In the distance he could see a large blue ball…Earth.

He looked at the stars and inhaled deeply, lowering his head as he tried to erase the angst that was tightening his heart and making it difficult to breath. He didn't know what was causing it, but he had awaken in the middle of the night covered in sweat and feeling this painful angst. The pain in his chest made breathing hard and their was a potent fear…a fear of something that he couldn't name.

It had been almost a week since the first time he woke up at 3 am and it had happened day after day since then. He wanted to scream, to punch something, but he couldn't. What bothered him the most was that he didn't know why he was feeling this way. This wasn't the first time that something like this had happened to him. The same thing happened to him years ago on Earth; when the war was going on. When he decided that he couldn't take it anymore and made the decision to escape to Mars.

But this time things where different, he didn't want to escape. He was where he wanted to be. He was with Lisa and he should have been happier than ever. All his wishes had come true. But still he didn't understand this angst that didn't allow him to sleep at night. And even when the war was around him and he saw people die everyday, it hadn't affected him like it had on Earth. Maybe because the war wasn't between humans…he didn't know.

He walked to the bed again, knowing that he would not fall asleep anytime soon. On his way he saw a picture of him with Lisa. They had taken the picture recently with one of those robo-photographers at the Macross fountain. They both were in their uniforms, holding to each other and laughing. He couldn't avoid a smile… he loved her. But things with Lisa weren't going as fine as they should, not since he had been waking up in the middle of the night. For some reason, they had become distant from each other. Well, he had distanced himself from her and that frustrated him. He wanted to be with her more than anything in the world but when he was with her he started to feel this angst just as he felt when he woke up in the middle of the night. She had noticed his change, his awkwardness when she was with him. He hated himself for that because he knew that he was hurting her. Because he knew that he should probably tell her what was happening to him. He had always found it easy to talk with her about everything that was happening to him, but this he just couldn't. This time he was afraid to talk to her and couldn't understand why.

Karl sat on the bed and grabbed a file of his last project with Doctor Lang. Maybe work would keep his mind busy and release this tension.

Lisa was staring at the stars from the bridge, absorbed in thoughts of Karl. His recent behavior was baffling her. He was so distant, so cold, so…different. He had changed from one day to the other and was acting just like he did so many years ago…just before he left her. That scared her. She didn't want to lose him, not this time, not after all they had gone through. But if he didn't want to be with her then there was nothing that she could do. Just the thought of losing him hurt her deeply. It hurt her even physically; she could feel a lacerating pain in her chest and she noticed how her vision became blurry because of the tears that started to fill her eyes. She inhaled deeply and tightened her jaw to hold in the tears. Then her mind started to work fast and in disorder like it had been doing the last couple of days, trying to find the reason of Karl's behavior. Maybe there was something that she had done, or something that she hadn't done. Maybe she was asphyxiating him or maybe she wasn't pay enough attention to him. Maybe it was all the attention that she paid to her job, or maybe it was because they hadn't made love yet. Maybe… tons of questions filled her head and every one of them took her to the same conclusion. It was her fault…it was always her fault.

"SDF-1 to Lisa," said Claudia for the tenth time before she finally caught Lisa's attention.

"Were you talking to me?" asked Lisa, trying to focus on what was going on in the bridge and not in her mind.

"No, I was just talking with my imaginary friend here next to me," said Claudia and put her hand on her waist in a reproachful attitude, "of course I was talking to you, Hon."

"Sorry.. I was.." Lisa was saying when Sammie interrupted her.

"Daydreaming…but then again with a guy like Commander Riber, who can blame you Lisa?"

"So true…so sad that he has no brothers," complained Kim.

Claudia looked at Lisa and got closer to her, "Are you OK honey?" she asked, softly looking at her in the eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine…just sinking in a glass of water," said Lisa and shirked her shoulders.

"If you need a lifejacket you know where to find me," said Claudia with a smile and then walked to her station, "but then again work always helps to clear the mind," she said and winked at Lisa.

"Yeah, I think the same way," said Lisa and got back to her station and started to compare data with Claudia. Lately they were having problems with the electronic devices.

When the Captain arrived on the bridge, he sat in his chair and asked Lisa to report the current status of the ship. Then suddenly his attention was directed to the soft mumbling of Kim and Sammie.

"What is it?" asked the Captain with patience.

"I'm receiving a code message, and it appears that it came from Earth."

"Put it on," said the captain and everyone on the bridge listened carefully to the message.

"I can't believe this! We're expected to stay out here and be sitting ducks while they, they…oh forgive me," said Claudia and covered her mouth when she realized what she had said.

But the captain didn't reprimand her, he just remained in silence and then he added, "We're changing our course."

Lisa just looked at him, feeling guilty. She knew that her father had something to do with this. But there was nothing that she could do, except her job. Suddenly an alert message appeared on her screen; bad news never came alone.

"I detect enemy pods in sector XP-121 and getting closer to us. Vanessa, give me confirmation on the wide range radar," said Lisa.

"Enemy pods' presence confirmed. They are getting closer and faster from sector XP to XT," said Vanessa.

"All stations prepare for combat. I repeat, all battle stations prepare to combat. This is not a drill," said Lisa and in a few seconds the VTs were flying to meet the enemy and the battle started. It was just a small battle like they all had been the last few days. Only a small reminder of the enemy so they wouldn't forget that they were there.

The battle was going on OK, if that could be said. They were not having too many losses and the enemy was on retreat so things were fine. But today wasn't Lisa's day.

"This is Vermillion team leader requesting permission to land," said the voice of Lieutenant Hunter.

"Permission denied," answered Lisa.

"One of my men was hit and he is losing fuel. We are returning to base," said Hunter with determination.

"I repeat team leader, permission is denied. The VT doesn't look that bad. I would prefer that you remain in your position," said Lisa starting to get angry.

"I am the team leader and I am responsible for my men. We are going back."

"Are you telling me that you deliberately are going to disobey a direct order?" asked Lisa.

"It seems that you already forgot what you learned in the academy and maybe what you told me the other day was just words. Aren't you supposed to take care of those who are outside and not just sit there comfortably giving all kinds of instructions while we are the ones who are risking our lives? Because that's what you are doing, you are risking one of my men's life," said Rick defiantly.

"Who do you think you are to tell me how to do my job?" said Lisa upset. The fact that Hunter was questioning her concern for the pilots was toomuch for her.

"Silence, both of you," came the voice of Roy on the open channel, "This time Rick is right about Dixon's VT. Vermillion team get back to base and Rick watch your mouth," said Roy and gave a serious look at Rick.

"Vermillion team you have permission to land on deck C-22," said Lisa in a stone cold voice.

"Roger that bridge," said Rick with a triumphant smile, which made Lisa clinch her jaw.

"Skull leader, when your shift ends meet me at preflight," said Lisa upset and cut her communication with Roy.

Roy started to walk towards the preflight room knowing perfectly well what was waiting for him. If the battle that had just occurred was dangerous, the situation waiting for him behind that door was even worse. Lisa probably would be so mad at him that he had seriously prefered to take an enemy shot than cross that door. But he was soldier, trained to face danger and this was pure danger. And someone would have to pay for putting him in this situation and he could only think of one Lieutenant…Rick was so dead.

"Commander Hayes," said Roy when he opened the door and saw Lisa looking at the flight screen.

"Commander Fokker," said Lisa coldly.

"Did you want to see me?"

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the incident with Hunter," said Lisa, crossing her arms.

"Look Lisa…" Roy was saying, but Lisa interrupted him.

"Listen to me, Commander," said Lisa to make it clear that this wasn't a friendly talk, "You might be in the air quite longer than I have been a flight officer and certainly you have more experience than me as a pilot. But when you are out there and I'm on the bridge I outrank you and I'm in command and I will not tolerate you passing over my authority or questioning my concern about the pilots that are out there."

"It won't happen again Ma'am," said Roy with serenity because he understood Lisa's concern.

"If you have a suggestion you know that I'm open to listen- but on a private channel. Not on the open channel where the rest of the pilots can think that you have more power than me and that they can come to you every time they want to disobey a direct order."

"I'm sorry Commander, it was my mistake and I apologize. It was never my intention to disrespect you. You know that I respect your command more than anyone I have served with," said Roy honestly.

"I know…" Lisa was saying when her pager started to ring.

"Sorry," Lisa said and checked her pager. It was a message from the bridge that told her that the laboratory of Doctor Lang had taken a direct hit during the last attack and that there were casualties. Lisa went pale immediately.

"Lisa, are you ok?" asked Roy with concern when he noticed the sudden change in her.

"I…I have to go," said Lisa quickly as she walked fast to the exit door.

There was no better way for a rumor to run than put the word classified next to some news. It was just a few moments ago that a classified message from Earth had arrived for Captain Gloval, but the high level computer techs of Doctor Lang had found a way to hear what was on it.

When Karl listened to the rumors, he knew right then why he had been waking up in the middle of the night the last few days. He felt how the panic paralyzed him, how the panic took control of all his body and didn't allow him to move.

He was trapped again but this time it wasn't on the red planet, it was inside of a ship that was the main target of an alien enemy.

They couldn't return to Earth. How long could they survive up here? How long until the same images that he had seen happen on Mars repeat again? How much time would pass until people started to kill one another for a piece of bread or a drink of water? He couldn't go through that again, he just couldn't. He prefered to die than go through that again.

He had never felt so much fear as he was feeling now. The same panic that had frozen him in front of the main observation deck of Doctor Lang's laboratory was the cause of his difficulties to breath. He could feel a lacerating pain in his chest and he could feel how the oxygen that he breathed wasn't enough to reach his lungs. His vision became blurry but at the distance he still could see how Earth was getting farther and farther away with every movement of the ship.

Karl tried to think about something else, something that could stop his fear. As he did on Mars when everything went wrong he tried to think of Lisa, but this time he realized that she was here with him and they were both trapped on this ship. There will be no dream that may come true, this was the truth and it was a nightmare.

Suddenly someone grabbed him firmly a threw him away from the window. The next thing that he saw was the blast of the explosion, and the cracked glass from the main observatory deck.

Lisa ran as fast as she could to the laboratory. When she arrived it was in chaos. People were running from one side to the other, some of them were medical personnel, others were mechanics that were sealing the place so there would be no danger for the people that worked there. Some people of Doctor Lang's team were trying to retrieve important data.

Lisa looked in every direction, trying to figure out if she could see Karl, but in the mess and the smoke from the small fires that the explosion had caused she could barely see. She tried to get closer to the laboratory, but the MP stopped her. The mechanics were still trying to seal the place. Then Lisa saw one of Karl's aides.

"Saunders, Lieutenant Saunders!" said Lisa and crossed the security area, not caring what the MP said.

"Ma'am," said Saunders who was being checked by medical personnel.

"Where is Karl? Is he OK?" asked Lisa with concern.

"He...he is not here," said Saunders almost in a whisper, not knowing how Lisa would react.

"What do you mean? Is he OK?" asked Lisa confused.

"I believe he was injured because of the attack, but he ran away from the laboratory right after the explosion. He looked different Ma'am. He was acting weird ever since he arrived at the lab," said Saunders.

"Thank you Lieutenant," said Lisa worriedly as she headed towards Karl's apartment.

Lisa knocked at Karl's apartment strongly, but no one answered.

"Karl, are you there?" asked Lisa while she knocked on the door again. Concerned she said, "Karl it's me Lisa…open the door," as she knocked again. She was worried. She could feel her heart beat faster and faster and the adrenalin pumping in her veins. She wanted to tear the door down to find out if he was OK. Then she remembered the emergency code to open Karl's apartment door. She quickly punched in the code and opened the door slowly.

"Karl?" asked Lisa with concern when she saw through the darkness that surrounded the apartment. The living room was a complete mess. "Karl?" asked Lisa again as she moved to turn on the light.

"Leave it off," said Karl in a whisper that came to Lisa's ears from the darkness.

"Ok," said Lisa and started to walk to where Karl's voice were coming, "Are you OK? Doctor Lang's laboratory was hit directly on the last enemy attack and when I went there they said that you left and that you were injured," said Lisa worried when she got closer to him.

"I'm fine," said Karl, avoiding her and walking next to the window. The light that came from the window allowed Lisa to see his face.

"Oh my God Karl, your face. You have blood on your face!" said Lisa concerned as she moved next to him and removed some hair from his face to see him better.

"I'm fine Lisa," said Karl upset as he took a step back.

"We should go to the hospital," said Lisa, getting closer to him again.

"I'm fine Lisa," he said so strongly that Lisa took a step back, "It's just a small cut."

"I'm just worried about you," said Lisa with hurt in her voice.

"Well don't be. I'm fine," said Karl and turned his back to Lisa, leaving her frozen in the middle of the living room.

"Shouldn't you be on the bridge?" asked Karl without even looking at her.

"Yes, but I asked permission to leave to see how you were," she said softly, confused because of his behavior.

"Well, you see me and I'm fine, so why don't you go back to the bridge?" said Karl coldly.

"I guess I better get back to bridge then," Lisa said and as she said the last words her voice started to break. She looked at him, but he didn't even move from his place. Lisa opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't find the words, so she turned in the direction of the door and began to walk out. When she had already opened the door, she suddenly turned in his direction.

"What is it Karl? What have I done wrong?" asked Lisa, finally turning in his direction and closing the door.

"You have done nothing wrong," said Karl, finally looking at her.

"Then what is it? Why are you behaving like this? Why this sudden change?" she asked and felt that her heart was getting tighter and tighter as she waited for him to answer.

"I don't know, I guess I'm changing person," he said, biting his lower lip and again looking away from her.

"I see," said Lisa and bent down her head, "I thought that we were fine…"

"I need some time Lisa," he said and then looked at her.

"You need time?" said Lisa and took a deep breath, trying as hard as she could not to cry, "I don't know what to say, I thought we were fine. I thought that everything was like it was before."

"That's the problem don't you see it?" said Karl and got closer to her.

"No, I don't see it. I thought that you were happy with me."

"Is not that Lisa, it's just that things have changed."

"So what is it? You don't love me anymore?" asked Lisa with a broken voice. She had asked the question, but she didn't want to hear the answer- it frighten her too much. The time seemed to freeze while she waited for him answer.

"Why can't you see it Lisa, I'm not the same Karl that left Earth and you are not the same Lisa that I left there. We cannot pretend that we can just pick up our relationship from the same place that we left it."

"I have never pushed you," Lisa defended herself.

"Come on Lisa, you still think that I'm the same Karl but I'm not. I spent almost eight years prisoner on Mars and I experienced things that I would not wish not even on my worst enemy. What I've seen and lived changed me Lisa, but you don't want to see that. You still think that I'm your father's aide."

"How can you say that?" said Lisa with great hurt. She couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Because it's the truth, because it's how I feel."

"So it's my fault?" said Lisa and her pain turned into anger, "How do you want me understand what happened to you on Mars if you haven't said a word to me about it? And don't you think I have changed too?"

"Because is not about what happen to me on Mars it's about how I changed because of it. I am no longer the naïve boy that I was on Earth. Maybe I'm not even the guy you fell in love with anymore. You have changed too."

"Yes I have, I have grown up Karl but you don't seem to understand that either, you still think that I'm this girl that needs to be taking care of," said Lisa and wiped one tear that was about to fall down her right cheek.

"Maybe I'm doing the same, but that's why I need some time Lisa," said Karl and tried to get closer to Lisa but she took a step back.

"So you want to runaway again, don't you?" said Lisa to hurt him.

"I prefer to step back than kill this from within," he said coldly.

"And that's what I'm doing?"

"Lisa why don't you understand, I have other things to deal with than our relationship. God, I was stuck on Mars for eight years, fighting everyday to survive. I watched my friends die and wished that they would die so the rest of us, the ones that were healthy could have more chances to survive. I prayed that someone would rescue us and when finally our prayers where answered, we were rescued by a ship that's in the middle of the war. Only God knows when it will arrived again on Earth. So now I'm stuck here…" Karl said, pacing across the room.

"And you are stuck with me, too," finished Lisa.

"That's not.." Karl was saying, but Lisa interrupted him.

"Yes Karl, that's what you were implying," she said and gave him a sad smile, "God, I must be really stupid, I…not even in my worst nightmare did I see this coming."

"Lisa, this is not about you…it's about me. I need to take a break from this."

"I thought that you were happy with our reunion."

"I thought that, too."

"So all this was fake?" asked Lisa and as she asked , she felt her heart tearing apart, "All the 'I love you's' where a lie?" asked Lisa and she could feel the sobs in her throat but she fought them back.

"No Lisa, every time I said 'I love you', I really meant it. You are very important to me. It's just that…"

"You need time…" she finished and held her tears strongly again.

"It's just that when I was on Mars, all I wished was to be with you again, and now… now that I'm here I feel like I'm drowning. I feel that we are two different people and that you are not the same person that I fell in love with," he said and then he remained in silence, avoiding her gaze.

Lisa was frozen. She couldn't process Karl's words. All she could feel was the pain in her chest and the knot in her throat. She tightened her jaw in order not to cry. Suddenly Karl looked at her and tried to get closer to her. He put one arm softly on her shoulder and let it slide down until he grabbed her hand.

"Lisa…" he said softly.

"I have to go, they need me on the bridge," said Lisa and released herself from his grasp. "I have to go," repeated Lisa and walked away from him without even looking at him. She opened the door and closed it carefully.

Lisa had ran for a few meters, but she couldn't do it anymore. She felt that she couldn't breath, not because of the run, but because she felt her heart was actually breaking. She rested her back against the wall of the hallway. She tried to breath normally, to block her mind, to not cry. She had work to do, she had to be on the bridge where she was needed. But it hurt so much, the words that Karl had said to her… how he could say those things to her?

She felt her knees tremble, as if they weren't strong enough to hold her. The tears were about to fall down her cheeks; she led her hands to her face. All she wanted to do was cry, but she couldn't; she couldn't because she still didn't understand what had happen in Karl's apartment.

Then someone ran past her. She tried to pull herself back together but before she could, the same person came back toward her.

"Are you OK, Commander?" asked the concerned voice of Lieutenant Hunter.

"Yes, I'm just…" said Lisa and wiped her eyes as much as she could, "I just felt a little dizzy, but I'm fine," she added, avoiding his gaze.

"Are you sure Ma'am?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes. I better hurry, they need me on the bridge," said Lisa when her pager started to ring.

"Sure," said Rick.

"Have to go," said Lisa with the saddest smile that Rick had ever seen as she started to walk away from him.

Rick remained standing in the hallway for a few seconds, looking at her get away. Then he realized who lived down that hallway. He looked at the door of Commander Riber's apartment. Could he be the reason for Commander Hayes sad smile? Well, he didn't have time to ponder that question, he had to change quickly because he had a date with Minmei in less than an hour.

Lisa entered the bridge, avoiding everyone's gaze. She went directly to her console and started to retrieve data. The enemy was moving away from them and it didn't seem like they were taking combat position. Since the Captain was on the bridge, no one asked her about her trip to Dr. Lang's lab.

No one spoke to her until Claudia got closer to her to ask if she had on her screen an asteroid next to the enemy fleet.

"Yes, I have it on my screen too. Do you think it will get in the way of our new course?" asked Lisa.

"Not if I correct the course now. Just a couple of degrees..." said Claudia and smiled.

"Everything went fine in the lab?" asked Claudia.

"Yes," said Lisa seriously.

"And with my stone head flyboy?" asked Claudia amused.

"What?" asked Lisa with confusion.

"With Roy. You were supposed to meet him at preflight."

"Oh yeah it went…" Lisa was saying when Vanessa spoke.

"The enemy is opening fire."

"What?" exclaimed the Captain and before anyone could respond, pieces of the asteroid started to hit the SDF-1.

The situation on the bridge was complete chaos. They had to pay attention to the asteroid fragments as well as the enemy. The red alert sounded and the ship's course was corrected, but pieces of asteroid hit the ship badly and most of the systems went blank. Backup power maintained the bridge and the rest of the energy was diverted to maintain the pin point barrier system to defend Macross City.

"Enemy destroyers! Confirm enemy fire-laser-bolt signatures" said Vanessa.

"Brace yourselves!" said Gloval and even before he could end his words a direct hit shook the SDF-1. The hit was so strong that neither Lisa or Claudia could remain at their post and Lisa fell hard onto the floor.

"Is everyone OK?" asked the Captain as he placed his cap back on his head.

"Yes Sir," said Lisa and stood up. All that she could see from the window of the bridge was destruction. She could have died right there and maybe it would have been best; she had nothing to hold on to anymore, not now that Karl had broken up with her.

"Lisa are you OK?" asked Claudia with concern when she saw the look in Lisa's eyes.

"I'm fine," said Lisa and looked at her screen. She needed to clear her mind, she needed to do her job. That was now the only reason to be alive, to accomplish her work.

"I want the status of the ship," ordered Gloval, "and Claudia, stop the engines. There's no point to continue moving, we have to save energy."

"Yes Sir," said Claudia and the rest of the girls started to report the status of the ship to the Captain.

"Sir, the main wide range radar has been destroyed and the entire control crew has been wiped out," said Lisa.

"Can we raise Skull Leader?" asked the Captain.

"Negative," said Lisa.

"Do we have any lecture of the wide range auxiliary radar perhaps?" asked the Captain.

"No Sir," said Vanessa.

"The technical repair unit is reporting right now," said Lisa and after a few seconds she added, "estimates of ten hours to effect minimal repairs," said Lisa slowly, knowing what that meant. They were blind and with no power in the middle of an asteroid rain. With the enemy ready to attack again.

The Captain remained quiet until the timid voice of Sammie interrupted the silence.

"Sir, I'm receiving a weird message and it doesn't seem to come from Earth."

"Put it on," said the Captain confused. On the speakers the message started. As they listened, everyone on the bridge was more and more surprised.

"In the name of the Zentraedi forces, I order you to surrender. The last attack on your ship was a warning of what we will do. You cannot escape. If you wish to save the lives of your crew, you must surrender at once."

"My God! It's the aliens!" exclaimed Claudia.

"I can't believe it," said Lisa as the message started to repeat again.

"Turn it off," ordered the Captain. He was as surprised as the girls on the bridge were, "Claudia, keep close observation on the enemy."

"Yes, Sir," said Claudia.

The Captain got close to the window, trying to figure out what to do. How to fight this battle? But one thing was clear, he couldn't fight it blind.

"Lisa prepare to go out. You will be our eyes," said the Captain finally.

"What?" asked Lisa in disbelieve.

"You will go out on a Cat's Eye to retrieve data. You will be our eyes out there."

"But Sir…" Lisa began. She wasn't in any condition to go out in space, not in her current mental state

"Lisa, it's an order. You are the only one who can do this job."

"Yes, Sir," said Lisa and after checking all of her screens, she abandoned the bridge.

Lisa was standing in front of her Cat's Eye. She was the one that would fly it because every available pilot was already in the air to protect the SDF-1. She had her flight suit on and all the emergency supplements on too. The preflight had already taken place and all that was left was to climb up to cockpit. But she couldn't; she needed to clear her mind first. She needed to concentrate completely on the mission and leave all her personal problems behind if she was to get back to the ship alive. She also didn't want to endanger her copilot, a young second lieutenant that had only served on the gladiator defence force. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she needed to concentrate.

"Are you ready Commander?" asked Rick.

"Excuse me?" asked Lisa and turned in his direction.

"We have our window. Are you ready to take off Commander?" asked Rick again.

"Yes, just a second," said Lisa and put her helmet on.

"If you are not ready we can wait for the next one," said Rick. He wasn't sure that she could fly no matter what Roy had said. He didn't think she was capable, especially after seeing her in the hallway about to faint only a few hours ago.

"I'm ready Lieutenant, we will not miss our window," said Lisa and started to climb into her Cat's Eye. Maybe it wasn't bad news that Hunter was her escort, he knew how to upset her and maybe being upset right now was better than being heart broken. "We'll take off first. You will be my wingman, Hunter. Sterling and Dixon will watch the rearguard," added Lisa in her command voice.

"As you say, Ma'am," said Rick and climbed into his VT.

Lisa started the engines and as soon as she took the stick in her hands all the pain of her heart disappeared. She was completely focused on the mission; she was the SDF-1's eyes.

"Keep an eye on the asteroid fragments Lieutenant and I'll take care of bringing us back home safe," said Lisa.

"Count on that Ma'am," said Lisa's copilot.

"Ironic, isn't it Commander," said Rick as he appeared on Lisa's right commo screen, "that I should end up as your wingman?"

"Certainly," said Lisa seriously.

"Can I ask why the Captain sent you for this mission Ma'am?" asked Rick curiously.

"Maybe because he thought that I needed a ride outside, away from the safety and comfort of the bridge. That way I can see what I do to the pilots," said Lisa sarcastically. Rick didn't respond, knowing perfectly what she was referring to. "Maybe it's because I'm the best for the job and whether you believe it or not, I do know how to fly one of this things in addition to analysing radar data for the bridge."

"Of course Ma'am," said Rick, deciding he should shut his mouth.

"I detect boggies at 4 o'clock," said Max.

"Roger that. Let them go, our mission is stay with the Cat's Eye," said Rick.

"Don't worry about me Lieutenant, I'll be fine."

"But I…"

"Really, I'll be fine"

"Max and Ben, intercept the enemy. I'll stay with the Cat's Eye," said Rick.

"The enemy outrange your men Hunter, go with them and intercept the enemy. That's an order," said Lisa in her stern tone of voice.

"Roger that Ma'am," said Rick and moved his VT next to Max.

"How is the reading of the asteroid fragments doing?" asked Lisa to her copilot.

"Fine Ma'am, but two clicks ahead is a very big one. We might need to change course," said the copilot.

"Let me check it. And the transmission to the SDF-1? How is it going?"

"Everything is in order."

"Lieutenant, this is too big to be an asteroid fragment."

"Oh my God," said the Lieutenant.

"What is it?" asked Lisa.

"I think it's the enemy ship," said the copilot and in his voice his fear could be heard.

"Don't worry about it, just keep focusing on the asteroids. Tell me where they are," said Lisa, trying to calm him down but she got no answer. She could hear the fast breath of the kid; he was frozen of fear.

"Lieutenant, talk to me," said Lisa but she got no answer, "Lieutenant, talk to me. I can't do this alone, talk to me," said Lisa, calmly trying to keep her attention on her screen and trying to avoid the asteroid fragments.

"Lieutenant," said Lisa in her most authoritarian tone of voice, trying to get a response from her copilot. But nothing, he still would not respond. She needed to move the Cat's Eye away from the enemy ship, but there were just to many fragments around them and she could not see all of them without her copilot's help. She could see ahead on her radar screen but not above. Above the plane was the most delicate part of all because that was where the radar antenna was from where they transmitted data to the SDF-1.

But she managed it; she managed to fly the Cat's Eye between the fragments. The only problem was that the enemy ship seemed to get closer and closer to them with every move that she made. If only she were flying a VT and not this gigantic antenna with engines.

"To the left! to the left!" the copilot finally yelled, but it was to late. A huge piece of the asteroid was coming in their direction above the antenna and outside the range of Lisa's radar. When she tried to move the plane, it was too late. The gigantic rock hit the antenna and smashed it before impacting heavily on the cockpit. The last thing that Lisa could see was the flying fragments of glass and the drops of blood that floated in front of her.

To be continued...

Author's Note: I'll be waiting for your reviews at and I have something to said in Karl's defence…Posttraumatic Disorder… remember that he was trapped on Mars for almost 8 years and suddenly he is back into normal life. Well I just hope that you have enjoy the chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 10

"Prisioners"

Author: Jo anderson

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Robotech; I'm just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man).

To: Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and to all the people that had encourage me to keep writing. Special thanks to Dwparsnip for beta this chapter for me, thank you so much!!!!!.

Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 10

"Prisioners"

Lisa opened her eyes confused, she saw a huge corridor around her and it took her a few moments to realize that her ship was been dragged inside the enemy ship.

She moved slowly, still not knowing if she was hurt or not, and then she remembered her RIO. She moved ahead to reach him, but she only needed to watch the part of the cabin that was above him to realize that he will not answer.

"Lieutenant" said Lisa but she got no answer, she was about to move even closer to the lieutenant when she saw Rick at her commo screen.

"What happened Commander? Are you Ok?"

"Get back to base Hunter, go. Now!" Lisa said hard.

"I won't leave you behind, we are coming for you Commander" Rick said and his image disappeared from Lisa's screen and then she saw his VT next to her.

She reach her copilot, but there was so much blood covering his face that she couldn't distinguish his features and the cabin was so crashed that she couldn't reach him to take his pulse, but she knew that if they didn't get out of there soon, he will not make it.

And then everything happened so fast the Vermillion team arrived to rescue them, Lieutenant Hunter broke the canopy and rescue her and when corporal Sterling was about to rescue her RIO, the enemy appear again and it was all chaos, the VTs rab out of ammo and the laser overheated. And before she could do something everything went blank.

Lisa tried to open her eyes, but everything seemed to spin around her, her head ached and so was her entire body. It was like someone had put her in a bag and punch her, which if her memories were accurate it had been the case. She tried to sit down and to focus her gaze on something. She moved her hands up to her head as if that way she would stop the spinning and the urge to throw up.

"Where am I?" Lisa asked more to herself than to anyone else, actually she hadn't even noticed that there was someone else next to her until the sarcastic voice of Lieutenant Hunter arrived to her ears and made her headache even worst.

"Right where you put us Commander, in the hands of the enemy" Rick said.

"What?" Lisa asked in disbelief and stood up looking all around her.

"We are prisoners of the enemy and if it wasn't for your stupid recon mission we wouldn't be here" Rick said crossing his arms and looking at her with disdain.

"Do I need to remind you that the objective of the stupid recon mission was to be the eyes of the SDF-1?" Lisa said starting to get angry. The good thing about that was being angry distracted her from the killer headache and the dizziness.

"Well they are blind any way, aren't they?. Because you crushed your ship against a asteroid".

"My RIO!" Lisa said worried and looked around but she didn't see him. She didn't even need Rick to give her the answer, she already knew.

"He's dead and the SDF-1 is blind, so congratulations on your mission Commander, it went down really well" Rick said with irony.

"Just like your mission to protect me and the ship, that really went well" Lisa said and put her hands on her waist .

"You not only failed to protect me but you also failed to protect your squadron, because if I'm not mistaken Dixon is a POW too".

"Yeah well what do you want? That I fly your Cat's eyes too?"

"I don't need your help I know how to fly a plane perfectly on my own".

"Yeah you managed to perfectly crush against that rock".

"Have you ever flown a Cat's eye?" Lisa asked challenging giving a step towards him.

"No, but that's not the pro…" Rick was saying but Lisa interrupted him.

"You of all people should now that no plane is the same as other, flying a cat's eye is like flying an antenna with engines, a piece of cake in an asteroid rain" Lisa said ironically and then added with a sarcastic voice "maybe if I knew how to make circus pirouettes like the ones you did on Saturn, because that turned out really well didn't it?"

"That was different" Rick stated.

"Not for me, and you know perfectly well that a VT is one of the most manoeuvrable ships that exist and you barely survived that mission so I will not tolerate the fact that you, who have never flown a Cat's Eye judge my way of flying".

"Oh forgive me, How can I even imagine that the fact of me flying everyday combat missions would give me the right to judge the way that the commander who hasn't sat in a cockpit in the last couple of months fly".

"You are right I might have been outside of a cockpit for the last months but I know perfectly well what to do out there" Lisa said and pointed at the window. "I out rank you for a reason Hunter, because I have more combat experience than you".

"You might out rank me, but you certainly don't have more experience than I do, come on Commander you really think that watching from the bridge battle after battle will give you what it takes to be here?" questioned Rick looking at her straight in the eyes and Lisa maintain his gaze with fury.

"It's not that I believe that Hunter, I know that I have what it takes to be here. But what's the point, no matter what I do it's never enough for you?. Hours ago you were saying that I'm always safe on the bridge, well now I'm here, so please tell me what do I need to do? What do I need to do so you can respect me and my job?"

"It's not that I don't respect your job, it's that I don't feel comfortable with you here, I feel…I don't know vulnerable with you here".

"Do you think that I need your protection?" Lisa asked and she tightened her jaw, she was so angry that you could see fire in her eyes. What was everyone's problem with her? Why did everyone feel that she needed to be protected, that she was just too fragile to handle pressure, that she was still a kid?

"I do" Rick stated and that was it, that was the spark that detonated Lisa, she was furious, too many things had happened to her, she just kept too much emotions to her self and she just exploded.

"I don't need your protection, or anyone's protection. I'm a trained military officer I can do anything you can Hunter, anything and probably better".

"Oh come on Commander!" Rick said pissed off, she was unbelievable. She spent all day on the bridge comfortable, while he spent all day fighting the enemy on his VT and now she has more military experience than him! For Christ sake!

"What?" said Lisa facing him, hands on her waist looking at him straight in the eyes. "You think I can't?" she almost threatened him "tell me Hunter have you ever fought with someone hand to hand, saw your enemy in the eyes and shoot him and saw the blood spread all over and even cover you?"

"I saw the enemy die right in front of my VT, so yes".

"Ha! From your VT, believe me it's not the same. Being in the safety of your cockpit is not the same of being out there looking at your enemy in the eyes and shooting him, and seeing how the life goes away from him, have you ever hear the last breath of "someone"?" she questioned and looked at him even closer "of course not, you can't hear that in the comfort of your cockpit" she said using the same tone that he had used to say that she was always safe and comfortable in the bridge.

"I might not have killed someone with my own hands like you but that doesn't mean that you are more prepared than me to be out here, the fact that you are a POW and that you crashed your ship proves my point".

"Right you are so much better than me, you are the perfect soldier that's why the enemy not only captured you but smashed your VT, the most advanced combat machine and not even with that you were able to beat the enemy who was fighting you with his bare hands".

"Did you even see the enemy, did you even see how powerful they were?"

"How could I? I was in the sack, but you probably had that planed, the fact that I was captured was just part of the plan in your mission to protect me"

"That's not…"

"And tell me what about the rest of your team? Dixon is lying there sleeping as if he was on vacation but what about Sterling, tell me Lieutenant where is he?"

"He…Max was.."

"You don't have a clue, don't you?" Lisa said and a cruel smile appeared on her face. "So tell me Hunter, how exactly are you going to protect me now? When you fail protecting your team members while you have a VT" she said and her voice became even more cold and cruel "because so far you are doing a great job protecting people, or do I need to remind you that thanks to your great abilities in combat Dixon is a POW and Sterling is probably dead".

"You are the one that put us here" said Rick to defend himself

"I order you clearly to leave, you were the one that decided to play the hero and try to rescue me and that decision probably cost Sterling his life"

"If there's someone responsible for all this, that person is you!" Rick said and get closer to Lisa staring her straight in the eyes, but Lisa doesn't even blink, she kept looking at him as cold as a stone.

"I didn't order you to rescue me, this was your choice, your decision" said Lisa and got even closer to Rick, to the point that she could feel him breath.

"I was ordered to protect you" Rick said and the more Lisa talked the more upset he got.

"And since when do you follow orders?"

"None of this would have happened if you have accepted that you couldn't fly this mission".

"No Hunter, none of this would have happened if you haven't decided to play the hero card again".

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, this eagerness of yours to be the hero. YYyYYou want so much to be the hero that you don't measure consequences, you did it once on Mars and that almost cost commander Riber's life and mine".

"I have never wanted to play the hero role".

"Oh come on Hunter, you want it so badly, so desperately that you will do anything to be the hero. You got lucky on Mars that's why Riber and I are alive but this time luck wasn't on your side and it was your desire to be the hero that caused Corporal Sterling to die in the vacuum of space" Lisa said and pointed at the window, smiling on the inside, she knew she had hurt him, she knew that she has won this battle and she was tasting the bittersweet taste of revenge only that Rick wasn't the person that she truly wanted to hurt.

Rick looked at her with crystal eyes. He could feel the blood boil inside of him, she was accusing him of being the cause of Max's death. He imagined Max floating out side in the vacuum lifeless and that hurt him. How she could say that he will risk Max's life to be the hero? But most of all he started to think, what if his decision was the cause that Max was…no! Max couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. And then all of his worries became anger, anger towards her, and she was there looking at him with triumphant eyes, as if she had won something.

"The only one responsible for this is you, and you want to know why?" Rick hissed trying to control his anger. Lisa just raised an eyebrow to challenge him "Because you shouldn't have flown this mission and you knew it! You knew that you weren't ready and you decided to fly any way, you are the one that put us all at risk, you are the responsible of your RIO's death and if Max is dead it's because of you, because you couldn't focus on the mission, because you were too hung up in the fight that you had with your boyfriend, you let your personal life get in the way and now we are paying for it!"

Rick had just finished saying the words when he felt a sharp pain on his right cheek and then a metallic taste on his mouth. He felt his eyes automatically fill with pain tears and then as if it was in slow motion he felt the sound of Lisa's hand colliding with his cheek.

"How dare you?" Lisa said clenching her teeth as she slapped him as hard as she could, and in her voice you could hear all the pain and anger that Rick's words have caused.

"It's time for dinner?" the voice of Ben sounded as if he was in another world.

Lisa kept looking at Rick with all the anger that she felt and Rick looked at her, pretending as if her slap wouldn't have cause him pain. They kept looking at each other with coldness and anger.

"Commander, boss where are we?" Ben asked confused.

"We are prisoners of the enemy" Rick stated and looked in Ben's direction but out of the corner of his eyes he saw Lisa walk away from him.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ben.

"I don't know" answer Rick honestly and walk to the opposite direction of where commander Hayes was.

He needed to cool off, to let it go. He knew he crossed the line in order to hurt her, he wanted revenge for what she said to him, but why he needed to get revenge he didn't know. All he knew was that there were so many emotions running through his body right now, he was nervous, exited, worried, impatient but most of all he was scared, because he didn't know what will happen next. He didn't know if he will be able to protect her, to take care of her and that was what pissed him off. That's why he was so upset with her, because she shouldn't be here, she should be safe on the bridge not here where the enemy could kill her and there was nothing that he could do to protect her. Why did she have to be so stubborn, why did she accept the mission.

But what was making him really angry was the fact that because of her he couldn't focus on the mission, because of her he was getting emotional, because of this stupid need to protect her. So yes this was the reason of why he wanted revenge, that's why he was angry with her beyond the fact that she had accused him of being responsible for the possible death of Max, it was because he was having feelings that he should not have, feelings that could cost them both their lives. So yes he was angry with her and in some twisted way he wanted her to pay for that.

Lisa looked trough the window to the open space, trying to focus her gaze in the stars. So that way the tears that were threatening with fall from her eyes will disappear, the anger and helplessness that she felt in that moment reflected in her body making her clench her jaw and fist and filling her eyes with tears. But the more she look out side the more she thought about what Rick had said.

What if he was right? What if she hadn't been able to switch her mind of and the price to pay had been her RIO'S life, that poor kid who wasn't old enough or capable enough to be out there. What if her stubbornness and desire to prove herself that she could leave her personal life aside to do her job was the reason they had been trapped here.

No! she said to herself, she has been as professional as anyone, she had stopped thinking of Karl the moment she climbed into that Cat's Eye. Then why she has let Hunter affect her with his words, why does she even care what he thought about her. She was his CO, she was the one in charge and his opinion was irrelevant. She tried to convince herself and took a deep breath and released her fist only to notice the blood that was covering her hands…her RIO's blood.

She looked into the space again, no, she couldn't aloud herself to think right now, to think on what ifs and what should, because if she started to do that right now, that will definitely make her responsible for everybody's death. She needed to be cold, to be the one in charge, to be Commander Hayes, the ice queen if she wanted to get them all out of there and back safe to the SDF-1.

Ben blinked a couple of times after hearing Rick's words. They were prisoners in an enemy ship. What does exactly mean? That they will be tortured to find out information about the SDF-1? That the enemy is going to kill them? And why Rick or Commander Hayes weren't planning their escape?

"Boss we have to get out of here" Ben said finally when he got up.

"I know" Rick answered coldly, still trying to calm down.

"So what is the plan?"

"I'm working on it" Rick said and looked through the window "_what am I supposed to do?" _he asked to himself.

"Maybe the commander has a plan too" Ben said looking at Lisa who was on the opposite side.

Rick just made a frown and looked in her direction. "She doesn't have the experience".

"But she is the flight…" was Ben saying but he kept his mouth shut, he had never seen Rick giving him such a threatening look. So after a while he said the only thing that came to his mind.

"Do you think that they will give us something to eat?" Ben asked and Rick looked at him as he could not believe what he just hear.

"Ben I don't…." was Rick saying when the voice of Commander Hayes interrupted him.

"Hunter…Lieutenant" Lisa said at the beginning with a whisper and then with her normal flight operator tone of voice.

"Lieutenant" repeated Lisa and she turned to face them. "The stars" she said and both Rick and Ben look at the stars outside.

Lisa who had been looking outside to try to calm herself down, suddenly noticed the change in the stars. They stopped blinking and began to fade and get blurry.

"Is that..?" asked Rick and a hint of fear appeared in his voice.

"What? What is it? What's happening with the stars?" Ben asked who had no clue of what was going on.

"They have initiated a Spacefold" Lisa stated and Rick and Ben just froze for a moment.

"But they can't … I mean where are they taking us?" Ben asked with fear.

"We have to get out of here" Rick said.

"And fast" Lisa said and she and Rick started to look around them, to search every inch of the glass box that contained them, trying to find a way to get out of there. But before they knew it a sweet smell started to fill the air.

"I can't…" Lisa began to say and rested her weight against the crystal wall.

"Ben!" Rick said and ran towards Ben who had collapsed onto the ground.

"They are sedating us" Lisa said and her knees betrayed her and she fell onto the ground too.

"I hope it's that and not that they are killing…"Rick couldn't finish the sentence when everything turned black.

On board the SDF-1 

"Sir I detect high levels of energy in the quadrant where we lost communication with Commander Hayes" Vanessa said.

"What do you think it is? An explosion?" Captain Gloval asked and got closer to Vanessa's station.

"If it's an explosion then it's a nuclear one, my screen is also detecting high levels of energy" Kim "added.

"Do you think they attacked Lisa?" asked Sammie with fear.

"Oh my God!" Vanessa said when her screen updated the information.

"What is it Vanessa?" Gloval asked concern.

"It's a spacefold sir, the enemy has start a spacefold".

"It can't be" Claudia said turning her gaze out of her station.

"Claudia try to reach Lisa, now! Use anything we can, but tell her to get out of there NOW!" Gloval said and on the inside he prayed that Lisa was out of there.

"Yes Sir I'm using everything I can but I get no response from her or from Vermillion leader" Claudia said as she tried to think of any way to contact Lisa.

"They're gone" Vanessa said when the energy levels that her screen was showing disappeared and turned to face Captain Gloval who was behind her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sammie asked with concern.

"What about the rest of the enemy?" the Captain asked.

"35 of the enemy fleet remain in position but the main ship has disappeared" Vanessa reported.

"Send the Skull squadron to search the area".

"Yes sir" Claudia said and gave the order.

It was only a couple of hours later that Roy's report arrived.

"Are you sure?" Claudia asked in disbelief.

"Yes Claudia, we searched the entire area three times, nothing" The voice of Roy could be heard from the other side of the speaker, and despite the interference the disappointment and sadness in Roy's voice could be heard.

"Roger that skull leader, return to base" Claudia finally said and turned in the captain's direction.

"What do we do now?" Claudia asked looking at him in the eyes.

The captain removed his cap from his head and cleared his throat.

"Put Lisa and the Vermillion team in the MIA list" the captain said and replaced his cap on his head

"But Sir…" Kim was saying and she became silent when the captain started to walk towards the exit door looking at the ground with his shoulders slumped.

"Claudia you have Command, I have to go to the Situation room to inform them what happened" the captain said softly. He was already outside the bridge when he turned to add "And Claudia since now on you are my first officer" and once he said that the door closed behind him.

"Yes sir" Claudia whispered and her eyes were full of tears as were the eyes of everyone in the bridge…Lisa was gone.

Rick opened his eyes and looked around; there it goes again, the spinning room and the dizziness, only that this time he had to add a sharp pain in his right cheek, which apparently made everything spin even more. He looked around only to find Commander Hayes sitting cross-legged in front of him and Ben still asleep.

"How long since I passed out?" asked Rick.

"In SDF-1 time or ours?" Lisa asked.

"SDF time" Rick said as he scratched his head and noticed how Ben started to wake up.

"Two…" Lisa was saying when Ben interrupted her.

"Wow my head is spinning and so are you Commander" Ben said.

"It's because of the sedative" Lisa said and put one of her hands on Ben shoulders.

"What sedative?" Ben asked.

"They put us to sleep, I guess as a preventive measure" Rick said.

"Fix your eyes on something, the feeling will go in a few minutes" Lisa said when she noticed that Dixon was getting pale.

"So you were telling me how long since we passed out" Rick said.

"Two weeks in SDF time, twenty ours in our time" Lisa said looking at her watch again.

"That much?" Ben said in disbelief.

"But how?" Rick asked.

"Time seams to remain steel during a space fold" Lisa state and look at the face of the two man with her, they looked so surprised.

"Many things have happened in Macross in all this time" Ben said thoughtfully.

"Yes many" echoed Rick and started to think about Minmei, she probably would already had her debut…Did she miss him when she didn't saw him there?

Lisa also started to think about what have happened in all that time, she thought of the girls, the Captain, her work, who would be taking her place…probably Claudia she was the most capable unless Maistroff pulled something, who will be covering her shifts as flight operator? And of course would Karl be missing her…will he still think about her?

But then a sudden movement from the ship took her out of her thoughts, the transposition has stopped.

"It stopped" Rick said and stood up immediately, so did Lisa and they both walked next to the window.

"Where are we?" Ben asked

"Do you recognize any stars? Any constellation systems? Any nebula?" Rick asked to Lisa, as they both look at the space with concentration.

"Nothing, I don't recognize a single star" Lisa said after a while

"Me neither" Rick said and start to get worried.

"What's that shimmy thing over there, fireworks?" Ben said and point to his left.

"An explosion maybe?" Rick said after looking into that direction, but he wasn't sure of what he was seeing.

"It's looks like a reflex blast…but I'm not sure" Lisa said and get closer to the window.

"Could be, all I know is that we are going right there" Rick said.

"Maybe is some sort of a welcome" Ben said and scratch his head and both Lisa and Rick look at him and roll their eyes.

"Wait a minute, maybe you are right Dixon…"Lisa was saying and she fix her gaze again into the shinning lights.

"What? Do you really believe it's a welcome committee?" Risk said in disbelieve

"Not a welcome one" Lisa said and suddenly the lights start to disappear to show what they really were.

"Come on commander…"Rick was saying and get closer to the window too, and then he saw "Oh my god!" was all that he could said.

"What? What is it?" ask Ben and start to look to the window too.

"It's.." was Lisa saying but she couldn't finished the sentence, she could not believe what she was seeing.

"The enemy fleet" Lisa and Rick said at the same time and then they looked at each other and for the first time Rick could see a hint of fear in Lisa's eyes and that scared him, scared him very much.

To be continued…

Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter and my apologies if I made any mistake about military regulations and all that. I'll be waiting for the reviews.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Robotech or any of it's characters. This fic was written for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's note: sorry for taking so long to update, I know it's been a while but I haven't forget this fic.

Reviews: Please, the reviews are what keeps me writing.

To: Everyone who takes the time to read this, specially to Carla, D and lela.

**Can a second chance change it all?**  
chapter11  
_Survival instincts_

The impression of seeing the entire enemy fleet left Lisa and the others frozen for a couple of seconds and as much as they tried to count the number of ships, they just couldn't. It was like trying to count the stars in the sky.

_"Do they had a chance against a fleet like this? Against an enemy so powerful that could defeat the most powerful defence arm that they had with their own hands?"_ Lisa thought, but stop immediately. She wasn't here to lucubrate, she was here for a reason, to be the SDF-1 eyes and that was precisely what she will be.

So she took the small camera that she had in her suit and started taking pictures of what was going on around them.

"What are you doing?" Rick asked when he noticed she had something in her hands and was moving around.

"I'm collecting data for the SDF-1. these pictures will be of incalculable tactical value when we get back."

"Do you realize that we need to get out of here first?" Rick said. He could not believe the way this woman's brain worked. How could she think about going back to the SDF-1 when they hadn't even found a way to get out of this super-advanced zoo cage where they were held?

"I do, but until we find a way I will accomplish my mission, Lieutenant," Lisa said with a renewed spirit, having a mission to accomplish somehow injected her with life.

"Wow, that's really a camera?" asked Ben, surprised when Lisa stopped taking pictures and started to view them in the camera.

"Yes it is. It's the newest toy from the Robotechnology guys and it can also make videos." She said still checking the pics.

"As wonderful as it is to have such a small camera, don't you think it would have been better to pack something that could help us to get out of here?" Rick said a little annoyed.

"Yeah Commander don't you have some cool gadget over there?" Ben asked excitedly.

"Sorry to disappoint you two but I'm not James Bond, we'll have to figure out a way to get out here by ourselves." She said and suddenly the air they were breathing changed.

"What happened?" Rick asked and they all got together.

"The field disappeared," said Ben.

"This might be our chance," Rick added when two Zentraedi soldiers suddenly entered the room. Their hard and guttural voices, in a language that none of them understood, somehow indicated them to move from where they were to a new platform. And so they did, there was no chance they could escape at the moment.

They were transported across the enemy ship in some sort of wagon, too high to attempt to jump out of and run away. Besides, the hallways of the ship were too plain and well lit to hide at some corner even if they managed not to get turned into soup on the floor if they jumped.  
So all they could do was to observe their surroundings and study how their enemy lived. And so far it was intriguing, the air was weird, somehow saturated with a mixture of smells. The oxygen was too pure but at the same time it felt like an abandoned house that had been closed for too long. The lights were too bright, too artificial, and the corridors where too plain, and even when they all were used to living in military installations, this was different: it didn't have the home feeling that the SDF-1 had.

Finally they arrived at a new room and were instructed to walk towards a new platform as big as a football field. The lights were dimmer but a couple of lamps were focused on them.

"Where are we?" Ben asked.

"In our new hamster cage?" Rick said sarcastically.

"We're going to be interrogated." Lisa said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Are you sure?" Rick asked concerned.

"Not completely, but this place looks like an interrogation room." Lisa said and the three of them started to look around.

Suddenly a sound was heard and the doors of the room opened. Five gigantic figures came into the room and stood arround the platform where they were.  
Lisa couldn't avoid feeling her heart beating faster and her breath was caught in her throat; she was nervous, a little scared to be honest, but she didn't have the luxury of experiencing those emotions, not right now. She needed to be strong not only for herself, but for the men under her command. They were going to be interrogated by the enemy, and not just a regular enemy; this one was not only extraterrestrial, but also was as tall as building. Their presence alone was enough to break someone, but she wouldn't let that happen, not to her and not to her men.

She tightened her jaw and convinced herself that as long as it depended on her the Zentraedi wouldn't find out a thing about the SDF-1 or Earth, and she would try to find out as much as she could about them. That was her mission and her purpose and failure was not an option, not to her.

So when the main figure entered the room, probably the one who would conduct the interrogation, she was ready for it. She activate her camera to record a video of the process and couldn't avoid saying to herself, _"Here we go Hayes."_

After the tallest Zentraedi introduced himself as the Commander in Chief of the Zentraedi in English and asked them if they understood him, they couldn't believe what they were hearing, except for Lisa; she had already heard the enemy speak in English before but she wasn't expecting them to speak in English now so she looked at Rick in the eyes and nodded.

After Lisa's nod Rick decided to answer Dolza's question. "We understand you. What do you want from us?"

"Congratulations, Exedore, you have done well in teaching me their primitive language." Dolza said, turning to the smallest Zentraedi.

"Why do you continue to resist us, Micronians?" Dolza gestured to the male on his right. "Surely Breetai has already demonstrated our superiority."

Rick pointed his finger to the one called Breetai. "You launched the attack on us! We've only been trying to defend ourselves for the past year."

"Immaterial!" Breetai interrupted. "Return to us what is rightfully ours, Zor's ship." He said.

Lisa took a step closer to Rick, _"What's rightfully ours?"_ she thought. So they wanted the ship, that's why they haven't destroy it yet. That might be the reason why they kept attacking us and retreating at the last minute when the battle was practically won by them. But _"Why?"_

"Zor's ship? If you mean the SDF-1, that's our property. It crashed on our planet, and we rebuilt it. You..."

Dolza cut Rick off. "It is as I feared," he said to Exedore.

"Tell us what you know about protoculture. You the fat one."

_"Proto..what?"_ Lisa thought.So that's the reason they wanted the ship, but what was this proto...thing? She turned to look at Ben; she didn't like the fact that he was the one answering questions, as hard as it sounded he was the weakest of the three of them. Maybe that's why Dolza chose him to answer this apparently important question.

"Me? Forget it, high rise. I don't know anything about it."

"Tell us what you know about Protoculture." Dolza demanded.

"You deny that you've developed a new weapons system utilizing Protoculture?" Exedore wanted to know.  
_  
"Could the strange reaction that the Fold Drives caused when they disappeared be this protoculture thing they were so eager to know if we knew how to operate?"_ Lisa asked to herself. She then realized that Rick was looking at her, trying to know what to do next, while Dolza asked again about Protoculture.

She moved forward boldly. She had enough of their questioning and now it was her turn to pull up some information from their gigantic enemies.  
"That's enough!" she said fiercely and held her arms up. "I will no longer submit my men to your questioning."

"So the female is in charge here." Dolza said surprised, and then sat back in his chair. "You underestimate the seriousness of your predicament, Micronian." He added and Lisa just crossed her arms across her chest defiantly. Rick and Ben looked at her for a minute, and Rick had to hold in a grin. He was amazed by the fact that Lisa, even when she was as insignificant to the Zentraedi as an ant was to them, she still found a way to intimidate them.

But suddenly the room changed, and instead of walls they were looking at Space and the same enormous enemy fleet that they had seen before, and it seemed to be pointing at a small planet, not too different from Earth.

"We are in possession of sufficient power to destroy your world in the blink of an eye." Dolza was saying. "And if you need proof of that, behold..."

And right then the enemy fleet fired their weapons at the planet and destroyed it. In a couple of seconds they extinguished the life of an entire planet just to make a point.  
Lisa's mind was running way too fast, she needed to say something, to do something and she needed to do it now. _"Why would someone with so much power want a single ship? Why?" _So she decided to go with a bluff.

"You don't have enough power to destroy the SDF-1." She said with a neutral tone.

"Are you insane?" Rick whispered in disbelief near to her ear.

"Maybe, but you'll have to trust me on this one." She whispered back while Dolza yelled she was an impertinent.

But Dolza's screams didn't intimidate her; she even moved forward. "The SDF-1 has much more power than all these pieces of junk." She said. She knew she was pushing too far, but no way in hell she would let them know that the humans didn't have a chance against such a powerful enemy. After all they already thought they were developing new weapons with this protoculture. So maybe they'd believe what she said.

Dolza brought his fist down on the table, throwing the three of them off their feet. He then reached out and grabbed her in his right hand. Rick tried to reach for her, but there was nothing he could do.

Lisa shook her head softly ordering him to stay put, trying to assure him that she was ok and that he didn't need to protect her. The truth was that she was quite scared. She was being held buy a gigantic hand, but the gentle robotic grip of Rick's VT was completely different from Dolza's. This wasn't gentle at all, and even when he wasn't hurting her, she knew that any moment now he could squeeze her to death to make the others confess something. After all he had destroyed a planet just to make point, what could her life possibly mean to him?

"Now my feisty female, I want to know by what process you become Micronian." He said and proceeded to tighten his grip around Lisa, just as she has feared, demanding an immediate answer.

"Stop squeezing her!" Rick said with concern. "We're born this way. We're born ... Micronian."

"Born from what is the question." said Exedore.

"Huh? Well... from our mothers. What else?"

"What is this thing you call "mother"?" One of the Zentraedi behind Rick asked.  
Ben swung around to face the red-uniformed trio.

"Mother. You know, like the parent that's female." Ben said and turned to Rick confused.

"You mean that you're actually born from the females of your kind?" Exedore asked incredulously.

"Hey," Ben continued. "It happens, you know. You put a man and a woman together and...well, it just happens." He laughed. "It's love."

Breetai looked over at Dolza, then fixed his gaze on Ben. "I've heard that word mentioned in some of your transmissions. But what is it? How do you express it?"  
Ben looked at Rick and shrugged his shoulder. Rick could not believe what was actually going on, of all the things the Zentraedi should be interested in, why did they want to know about love? He would have laughed but the seriousness of the situation stopped him from it.

"It can start with a kiss, I guess." Rick said.

Dolza stopped paying attention to Lisa, and looked closer to Rick and Ben. He did not believe what he had said; a micronian could not be produced by a single act. It was just not possible, not when they physiologically speaking were so similar. And if that was the case, that could mean that the female was right, maybe they had revealed the secrets of Zor's ship. No, it just couldn't be, they were lying and if that wasn't the case then he wanted living proof of it.

"You two," He said pointing at Rick and Ben. "Demonstrate this kissing or I will crush all of you!" Dolza ordered.

Rick tried to explain to him that he just couldn't kiss Ben, that that wasn't how things worked but Dolza was so adamant that Rick was seriously considering kissing Ben.

"I'll be the one who will prove it." Lisa said hardly, doing her best to hide the pain she was feeling from Dolza's grip.

When he put her on the ground, she took a minute before moving. Her legs where weak and her ribs hurt her when she breathed now that Dolza wasn't squeezing her.

Rick instictively moved closer to her and grabbed her elbow to help her walk. She looked so fragile when Dolza released her.

She took his arm and stood straight, finally raised her head and looked at him. He could see her strength bright in her eyes but he could also see a vulnerability there that he hadn't seen before.

"So Lieutenant, I order you to kiss me," She said.

"Ahh?" he said and stepped back, her words taking him by surprise.

"I just want to record his reaction on my video-camera." She explained.

"Then why don't you do it with Ben?" He said nervously.

"Because...because..." She couldn't find a reason why she wanted him instead of Dixon so she immediately added, "look it's just a kiss, it's not such a big deal." She said annoyed; it wasn't like she was dying to kiss him.

"Proceed at once!" Dolza ordered again.

Lisa noticed the Zentraedi was starting to lose his patience, and since Rick wasn't moving at all she decided there was only one thing left to do "Fine, I'll do it with Dixon." she said shaking her head in disbelief and started walking towards Dixon.

"Wait," Rick said and grabbed her by the elbow. "I'll do it."

"I'll spare you the agony Hunter, I'm sure Dixon will do it." She said stubbornly.

"I said I'll do it, ok!" He said, now angry too. "Now what's the best angle for you to shoot them?" Rick asked avoiding her gaze.

"A little to the left." She said and put both of her hands on his shoulders. "I'll have to grab you by your waist in order not to block the camera." she added.

"Fine," He said a little nervously. He felt uncomfortable because she was just too close and just to think about kissing her it made his stomach crumble. She kept saying instructions about what he should do for the kiss very fast, because Dolza had ordered them to kiss again, but he couldn't hear a single word of what she was saying with such determination as if the kiss was a choreographed battle. Well actually that's what it was, there was no romance involved in it but yet he could not avoid looking at her mouth, at her full, soft and pink lips and he could feel his knees tremble.

"Are you ready?" Lisa mumbled between her teeth angrily.

"Huh?.. yeah, yeah I'm ready, " He finally said and she only looked at him eyes wide open ordering him to proceed.

_"Great! So I'm the one who has to make the first move_," he couldn't help thinking.

_"Forgive me Karl,"_ Lisa thought when Rick started to move closer to her.

Lisa had said to herself that she'd keep her eyes open during the kiss in order to see the Zentraedi's reaction, but when their lips touched, softly and tenderly in an innocent kiss all her determination faded away and she closed her eyes and let herself go into the kiss. And before any of them noticed, the chaste and innocent kiss was no longer so innocent. They weren't just touching lips they were really kissing each other and it felt good, probably too good considering their surroundings, but it wasn't like they were conscious of what was going on around them. That is until the sounds of the Zentraedi brought them back to reality.

Rick looked at Lisa with dreamy eyes when they broke the kiss and she looked at him with the same expression while she tried to catch some air. It was then, when they both caught their breath that reallity hit them. They jumped apart from each other as if they had been electrocuted.

"This results from Protoculture?" Dolza asked.

"It is their weapons system at work." Exedore said.

"Take them out of here at once! Get these Micronians out of my sight!" Dolza commanded and stood in front of them.

By the time Lisa reacted completely to what had just happened, they were carried away in the gigantic wagon again. She wanted to slap herself. How on Earth could she let herself get carried away by a stupid kiss with Hunter? She had no idea. How was it possible that she could lose awareness of what was going on in the room because he had kissed her? She only hoped the recording of the kiss was good enough to have an idea of the reaction of the Zentraedi since she hadn't been able to watch it.

So by the time when they were put in a "Normal Zentraedi cell" the first thing she did was to sit in a corner and start watching the recording she made with her microcamera. She watched the video several times, trying to make some sense of what had just happened, but she couldn't. She just couldn't understand the Zentraedi. Now she had more questions than before.

"What do you think Commander?" Ben asked.

"About?" Lisa said, still trying to put her mind in order. She had so many questions and conclusions running together at the same time.

"About the fact that they have enough power to atomize Earth and yet you two kissed and they freaked out?"

"Do you realize that we haven't seen any female Zentraedi? No children, no civilians, only soldiers." She said.

"We haven't exactly been given the grand tour." Rick said.

"I realize that, Lieutenant." She said, annoyed "But maybe there aren't female Zentraedi that's why they had such a weird reaction when we.. we.. kissed."

"I don't think so; they knew you were a female." Rick said.

"Maybe they don't live together," Ben said and scratched his head. "Can you imagine that boss... living apart from women?"

"No I can't." Rick said frowning as he imagined a life with no women.

"We must get out of here." Ben said almost with desperation.

"Yes." Lisa said more to herself than for the others. She had collected enough interesting material for the SDF-1, data that needed to be processed by intelligence.

"I've been thinking about it, and maybe we could use our new weapon." Rick said softly, unsure of what he was about to propose.

"What new weapon?" Ben asked.

"The ehh.. the kiss." Rick said and looked far away from Lisa.

"Are you joking?" She said finally coming out of her thoughts. "Are you really suggesting that we kiss the next time we see a Zentraedi?"

"It could work, he'll be confused and we could find a way to get out of here."

"Did you hit your head with something Lieutenant? I'm not going to kiss you just because you want to. I have heard lame excuses before, but that one beats them all." She said unable to hold in a grin.

"What? You really think I want to kiss you? You were the one who ordered me to kiss you!"

"Because we were about to be crushed. I'm not going to kiss you because you think it might buy us our ticket out of here."

"That should be enough don't you think? We might be able to get out of here and all you have to do is kiss me. You're not the only one making a sacrifice here for your knowledge." Rick said tightening his fist.

"I'm willing to sacri..." Ben was saying but he was cut off.

"Shut up, Ben." Rick said.

"Poor Lieutenant who made the sacrifice to kiss his superior officer," Lisa said sarcastically. "Do I need to remind you that you were the one who grabbed me and said yes? I was going to kiss Dixon."

"I'm still available if you want..." Ben was saying.

"Shut up Dixon" Lisa said this time.

"The Zentraedi was about to turn us into thick soup! That's why I did it." Rick said. He was starting to get angry, she had ordered him to kiss her and now she was leaning on him! As if she hadn't answered the kiss back, in fact he still felt his lower lip swollen because of her kiss.

"Well then you'll have to wait until the next time the enemy wants to turn us into thick soup to try this "new weapon"." Lisa said and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I think I prefer to be turned into thick soup than trying the "new weapon"." Rick said and crossed his own arms across his chest.

"Fine by me."

"Fine."

"I think that..." Ben said but both Lisa and Rick gave him a cold look. "I'll just sit in that corner and shut up." He finally said and sat away from Lisa and Rick, who gave their back to each other and finally sat at opposite sides of the cell.

Suddenly a strange noise was heard. There was something going on outside their cell and before anyone could say anything the three of them were in front of the cell's door, looking at it anxiously.

Rick looked at Lisa. Something definitely was going on; maybe this was their chance to escape. All he knew for sure was that they had to do something.

Lisa looked back at Rick and she could practically hear what he was thinking and for some weird reason now his idea didn't sound as bad as it had minutes ago. Maybe they should give it a try, after all they needed to escape because if they didn't everything she had taped was worthless.

So she swallowed hard and cleared her throat; there was only one thing to do and that was to give their "new weapon" a try. All she hoped was that it didn't backfire on them.

"Dixon, move close to the door and wait" she said in her cold air controller voice. "Hunter, we should stand in the middle of the floor, but not to close so the zentraedi can see us."

"Ok" Rick said, still surprised by her sudden change of opinion.

"The moment the door opens we kiss, and you run away Dixon and you don't look back." She turned to Rick and added, "The moment we break the kiss we start running behind Dixon."

"Run to the left Ben, we'll follow you. And hide in the first dark hollow or corridor you find, we'll catch up with..." Rick was saying but a sound coming from the door interrupted him.

"Take your positions NOW!" said Lisa.

"Aye aye Ma'am" Rick and Ben answered instinctively.

They were in the middle of the cell, and they both knew what they had to do, but neither of them was ready to take the first step. After all, the "new weapon" not only had a paralyzing effect on the Zentraedi it also had it on both of them.

_"Don't think, just do it"_ Lisa said to herself and grabbed Rick's face with her hands and kissed him deeply.

Rick was so surprised by Lisa's move that he stood there frozen and it was only when he saw the door open completely and the bright light of the corridor illuminate Lisa's features that he finally reacted.

He put one of his hands in her hip and with the other he grabbed the back of Lisa's head and kissed her back, as deeply as she was kissing him. The moment he did it he knew he had made a big mistake, because he lost all consciousness of his surroundings, the only thing that existed in that minute for him was her...

_To be continued..._


End file.
